Objectives of the BSBA program

College of Business Administration

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA)

253 Business Administration Building, 419-372-2747

Program philosophy
The goal of the undergraduate business administration degree program is to develop broadly educated business professionals. This goal is accomplished through a four-year academic experience involving curricular and co-curricular elements. The program consists of three major components: professional education in business administration, education in the liberal arts, and development of a broadly defined set of personal skills. Each component is a necessary part of the educational experience for students, and none can be neglected if the program is to succeed.

The professional component of the program stresses knowledge and skill development necessary for students to function effectively in entry-level jobs and to enjoy productive professional careers. It develops understandings of the "common body of knowledge" as defined by the AACSB International—The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Consistent with this definition, the background includes study and understanding of the business functional and tool areas, the economic and legal environment, organizational theory and behavior, and integrative strategy and policy analysis. It also incorporates the worldwide dimension of business administration.

Professional knowledge and skills are developed through a common business core curriculum and areas of specialization designed to meet students' specific professional needs. The core develops a broad understanding of the entire business enterprise and represents the more important element of business majors' professional education component. The specialization supplements the core by allowing students to develop a deeper understanding of a more precisely defined field.

The liberal arts component emphasizes facts, concepts, and ideas that are necessary to be a broadly educated person in our society. More importantly, it provides a set of frameworks with which to analyze, comprehend, and enjoy these facts, concepts, and ideas in a long-term perspective. Consistent with BG Perspective requirements, it contains background and study of the humanities and the arts, the natural sciences, social and behavioral sciences, and cultural diversity in the United States. Beyond that, it develops a sense of ethical considerations and a framework for analyzing social issues.

Personal skills developed through the program are designed to enhance productivity for a long-term career and to permit the individual to engage in lifelong learning. By enabling students to engage in self-initiated independent learning, these skills provide the foundation for a productive career and a satisfying life. These skills include analytical and critical thinking, decision making, intellectual independence, leadership, planning and organization, and problem solving. Of paramount importance in order to manifest these skills is the ability to communicate ideas effectively. Consequently, the program pays particular attention to the development of students' written and oral communication skills.

Learning Outcomes

Business knowledge: Our students will demonstrate application and integration of knowledge in the following ways:

• Application: demonstrate one can apply functional and foundational concepts to think critically and solve business problems in curricular and co-curricular situations.
• Functional interdependence: demonstrate an understanding of the interdependencies among business functions and processes.
• Interface with society: demonstrate an understanding of how economic, legal and regulatory, political, social, technical, environmental, and competitive forces (local, regional, global) impact business and vice versa.

Innovative thinking: Our students will demonstrate innovative thinking in the following ways:

• Opportunity recognition: articulate ways to turn situations and problems into business or personal opportunities.
• Creativity: recognize when creative thinking is appropriate in a problem solving process and generate novel solutions to problems or new ways to respond to opportunities.

Personal and social responsibility: Our students will demonstrate personal and social responsibility in the following ways:

• Ethical decision making: recognize ethical issues, apply ethical frameworks to analyze them, then choose and defend a solution.
• Reflective thinking: demonstrate careful consideration of a belief, form of knowledge, action, or experience and think about it, evaluate it, and develop insight toward future action.
• Initiative: seek opportunities for active involvement in curricular and/or co-curricular areas.
• Taking others’ perspectives: demonstrate an understanding of another person’s point of view in curricular and co-curricular activities.

Communication skills: Our students will demonstrate effective communication in the following ways:

• Writing: produce quality business documents that exhibit competence in content, organization and clarity, quality, and referencing.
• Presenting: develop and make quality business presentations that exhibit competence in content, listening, media, non-verbal presentation skills, organization and clarity, and verbal presentation skills.
• Informal communication: communicate effectively in curricular or co-curricular small group situations.