The College of Business Administration offers seven concentrations in the principal fields of business:
By the end of their sophomore year, students are asked to declare a concentration. Each concentration requires four courses in one specific area of business.
Accounting (ACCT)
A concentration in accounting prepares the graduate for entry into one of the fastest-growing and most critical areas of management. In today's complex, ever-changing business environment, accounting requires people with sound technical knowledge, critical thinking, superior interpersonal skills, and the ability to communicate effectively.
Accounting is a discipline that can open the doors to many opportunities. Accountants work in a variety of positions and hold such titles as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Managing Partner, Tax Partner and even FBI Agent.
To prepare for an accounting career, students take courses in financial reporting, managerial accounting, and accounting information systems. Elective courses are available for more specialized study in strategic cost analysis, assurance services and taxation. In addition, as part of the program of study at Northeastern University, students will have the opportunity to derive valuable "real-world" experience through the Co-op program.
CPA Requirements
In Massachusetts and many other states, there is a requirement that students must complete 150 semester hours of college education prior to sitting for the CPA exam. Since this requirement can be met in a variety of ways, we recommend you discuss your options with an accounting faculty member. For the Massachusetts State requirements, please refer to the following website, http://www.mass-cpa-ed-reqs.info.
Northeastern University has developed a graduate program to meet the CPA requirements. This program, which has been approved by the Massachusetts State Board of Accountancy, provides students with the flexibility to obtain a Masters of Science degree in Accounting (MSA) and qualifies graduates to sit for the CPA exam. All details concerning this program can be found on the College's graduate programs page.
Overview of Accounting Concentration and ACCT Course Descriptions
For more information visit the Accounting Group
Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ENTR)
The concentration in Entrepreneurship and Innovation helps students develop the skills needed to work effectively within a small business or to start or acquire and manage a business of their own.
Students learn to assess their personal aptitude and potential for small business; find and evaluate business opportunities; secure essential funding; and organize and manage such functional business areas as manufacturing, marketing, accounting, and finance. Courses are offered in entrepreneurship, starting and managing new businesses, small business finance, and planning and growing new ventures.
The Entrepreneurship and Innovation concentration also helps students prepare for careers in sales management, banking, public accounting, and other areas relevant to the small business environment.
During their senior year, students participate in the Small Business Institute Field Project. Offered in conjunction with the United States Small Business Administration, this unique course offers students the chance to work, under faculty guidance, as consultants to small business owners; students analyze company needs and help develop practical solutions to actual management problems.
Overview of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Concentration and ENTR Course Descriptions
For more information visit the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Group
Finance and Insurance (FINA)
The role of people trained in finance and insurance is expanding rapidly within the business world. Changes on the financial scene, rising securities prices, fluctuating inflation and interest rates, and scarcity of capital have created an awareness that financial knowledge is essential to the effective management of business firms. Finance is the management and investment of money and other assets for business, financial institutions, nonprofit organizations, governments, and individuals.
The finance concentration draws on accounting principles, economic theory, and quantitative methods to direct the way money is managed, acquired, and distributed. Students learn how economic systems operate and how money markets work within economic systems. They also learn to analyze economic trends and indications and to examine the movement and distribution of money.
Students may specialize in one or more of the following areas: management finance, investment and analysis, management of financial institutions, insurance and risk management, real estate, and financial planning. The finance concentration prepares students for careers in financial management, security analysis, investment management, security or insurance brokerage, underwriting, credit management, and risk management with corporations, commerce banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions.
Overview of Finance and Insurance Concentration and FINA Course Descriptions
For more information visit the Finance Group
Management (MGMT)
Managing- whether it's people, projects or programs, is challenging. It requires a considerable range of knowledge and skills. Effective managers must know the business, be interpersonally competent, behave ethically, diagnose human and organizational dynamics and the like. In response to these challenges and to the increasing expectations of employers, the concentration in management has been significantly reworked. Current research, supported by conversations with middle and senior managers, contends that learning about management is necessary but not sufficient. Students must increase their knowledge of good management practices- they need to learn principles of motivation, communication, leadership, employee learning, organizational change and their impact on business results.
Additionally, students must also improve their managing skills. Simply said, they need to learn "how to". It is one thing to learn about the principles of effective feedback (or negotiation or motivation or teams, etc.), and a very different thing to give productive feedback, negotiate effectively and manage a team. The aim of the management concentration is both to increase knowledge of management, so that students have a strong substantive "core", and to increase management skills.
The curriculum offers courses in a range of relevant management topics. Some of the courses, including the required core course, are primarily skills-oriented; they teach "how to". Others are more content-oriented; they teach "about management". To enable students to gain exposure to a broad scope of management topics and issues, some of the courses consist of two topics, each of which is a half semester course.
Overview of Management Concentration and MGMT Course Descriptions
For more information visit the General Management Group
Management Information Systems (MISM)
Businesses process materials, products and information. In the industrial era of the past, management of materials and products was the focus. In the Information Age, success for individuals and companies requires the ability to manage information effectively.
The goal of the Management Information Systems concentration is to teach future managers and analysts how to use Information Technology (IT) to help individuals and organizations perform more efficiently and effectively. Students develop new cutting edge approaches that allow them to use this powerful resource to its greatest advantage. Delivering the right information in the right form and format to the right people at the right time is essential in today's business world.
Companies use management information systems to achieve a competitive edge through the intelligent design and use of IT. Students study database management, telecommunications, system analysis and design, program design methodologies, and other IT topics, such as digital multimedia, expert systems, electronic business, and knowledge management.
Management information systems can only be effectively designed and implemented when understood in the context of the individual user, the work group, the organization, and society. Therefore, the study of management information systems combines a focus on technology with a focus on organizational systems within the business context. Not only do students develop technical and problem-solving skills that are in high demand by employers, they learn to identify how IT can best be used within a business organization.
MISM managers interact frequently with other managers throughout an organization; therefore, students are encouraged to complete a dual concentration in management information systems and another area of business. Graduates of this program enter a wide range of professions that suit their particular interests. Professional options include systems analyst, programmer, database designer and administrator, Web master, software help desk expert, project specialist, consultant, network administrator, and IT specialist within other departments such as financial services, accounting, marketing, or manufacturing.
Overview of Management Information Systems Concentration and MISM Course Descriptions
For more information visit the IOA Group
Marketing (MKTG)
A business not only designs and manufactures products, but also markets and sells them to manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers. All the activities that direct the flow of goods and services from producer to consumer are classified as marketing concerns. Once an organization determines a customer's needs and wants, its first objective is to produce goods or services to satisfy that particular consumer. Essential in all types of businesses are product design, research, pricing, packaging, transportation, advertising, selling, and servicing.
The concentration in marketing is designed to familiarize students with the marketing process and to provide them with the theoretical concepts, skills, and tools necessary to successfully enter and advance in one of many possible career paths. Students learn to evaluate consumer behavior, employ advertising principles, utilize market research and testing, and develop ways to position products and services in a favorable light. They also explore the changing economic, political, legal, ethical, and cultural contexts in which marketing strategies must be developed.
Students may select courses that lead to one of many career paths within marketing: product or brand management, marketing research, advertising management, retail management, sales management, or international marketing management.
Overview of Marketing Concentration and MKTG Course Descriptions
For more information visit the Marketing Group
Supply Chain Management (SCHM)
From the Fortune 500 manufacturer to the small firm that produces, sells, or distributes products, all companies have a supply chain management function that must be effectively managed to be competitive. A supply chain manager is typically involved in making critical decisions about such matters as the modes of transportation used to move the company's materials and products, inventory policies, warehousing needs, customer service standards, and the location of facilities.
As companies become increasingly involved in global markets as both buyers and sellers, supply chain managers play a major role not only in assessing the feasibility of international activity, but also in developing supply and distribution networks to support that involvement. The policies that these managers help formulate are major determinants of a company's success in the international arena.
The academic work in the supply chain management concentration flows from introductory courses that address the decisions outlined above through advanced study of the formulation of supply chain strategies. The program culminates in a senior seminar that not only introduces students to industry leaders in the field, but also focuses on development of individual research and presentation skills.
Because supply chain managers frequently interact with those involved in other areas of management, many students choose to complete a second concentration in another area such as marketing, finance, or international business.
In addition to finding career opportunities with manufacturers, retailers and distributors, supply chain management students may find opportunities with companies that sell supply chain services or transportation services in the marketplace. Consulting firms and government agencies at the federal, state, and local levels provide other career options.
Overview of Supply Chain Management Concentration and SCHM Course Descriptions
For more information visit the General Management Group
Additional Areas of Study
International Business (INTB)
The recent growth of multinational firms, international trade, and regional international trading blocs has created a shortage of skilled managers who are equipped to analyze the complexities of international business. Multinational firms increasingly require that candidates for top management positions have prior experience in international operations. Large banks and insurance companies, governments, trade associations, and transnational bodies also have a growing need for managers who understand international business issues.
The study of international business fosters an understanding of problems involved in operating businesses across national boundaries. Students learn to analyze the operations of businesses in multinational environments.
The study of international business includes broad-based courses dealing with the international environment as well as functional business courses with an international focus. Some of these courses are offered by the College of Business Administration; those in the humanities and social sciences are offered by the College of Arts and Sciences. Courses in the area of international business are available to students in all concentrations during their middler, junior, and senior years.
Since most careers in international business begin in a functional area that has an international component, students are encouraged to combine study in international business with a concentration in finance, marketing, accounting or human resources management. Students interested in international business are also encouraged to develop competency in a foreign language, a skill viewed as a major asset by many prospective employers.
The College of Business Administration has extensive international contacts that enable many students to participate in international cooperative work experiences or internships.
The College also offers an undergraduate degree in international business, the Bachelor of Science in International Business (BSIB).
INTB Course Descriptions
For more information visit the General Management Group
Information Analysis
The area of Information Analysis examines the generation and use of data and information in the context of managerial decision making. Careful analysis of available information can provide insights and knowledge that are not apparent otherwise, and this can in turn lead to more informed and better decisions. Besides examining and analyzing data from secondary sources, such as published data, information analysis courses cover the collection and analysis of primary data obtained from controlled experiments. Methods of analysis such as basic statistics, survey techniques, explanatory and predictive models, and more advanced methods such as data mining, neural networks, and genetic algorithms are covered in the various courses that are offered by this area.
Course Descriptions
Operations Management
Operations Management is the management of business processes and systems that create goods and services. This includes all activities that are directly related to the goods produced and services provided. Consequently, operations constitute an important `area of management in both manufacturing and service environments. In most organizations, more than half of the jobs are in operations such as customer service, quality assurance, production planning, employee scheduling, inventory management, and many others. Since business processes extend across multiple areas such as finance, accounting, human resource management, logistics, marketing, etc., it is important for people who work in these areas to have a basic understanding of operations management.
Course Descriptions