Applied Business - Professional Technical Degree - Program Outcomes

Human Relations Skills: Communication, collaboration, multiculturalism, and management/leadership

• Communication. Communicate effectively in various forms using an appropriate channel for the situation.
• Teamwork and Collaboration. Work effectively and ethically within and across groups/teams to achieve common goals.
• Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Apply and analyze multicultural strategies to facilitate respectful and equitable inclusion of diverse individuals and perspectives to achieve organizational goals.

Core Business Principles: Quantitative and qualitative analysis, application, synthesis, and evaluation (economics, accounting, marketing, finance, ethics/legal)

• Strategic Thinking. Use quantitative and qualitative business principles to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate business problems in order to design and execute effective and ethical business solutions.
• Information Competency. Apply appropriate information location, selection, and attribution norms to solve business problems.

Business Model Orientation: Sustainability, entrepreneurship

• Sustainable Business Model. Analyze and evaluate the impact of various business models on communities, the environment, and the society at large.
• Entrepreneurial Mindset. Demonstrate an action-oriented entrepreneurial mindset open to innovation, opportunities, and change in order to capture, create, and communicate value in business settings.

Fundamental Areas of Knowledge and Core Abilities Outcomes

General Education at Pierce College prepares graduates to live and work in a dynamically changing world by emphasizing whole student development through fundamental areas of knowledge and the college five core abilities.

Students will:

• Identify different elements that distinguish capitalism, socialism, communism, and mixed economy.
• Describe the role of competition, government involvement, and culture in a selected country's economic system.
• Assess elements of the global economy such as labor, capital, trade, natural resources, etc. and develop an action plan that describes how they will compete in this environment.
• Compare and contrast the functions of production, marketing, human resource, accounting, information, and financial management.
• Analyze workplace scenarios identifying/debating legal, ethical and socially responsible

Students will:

• Identify and describe human resource departmental duties and responsibilities.
• Differentiate between job analysis, auditing, job design, job description, job specifications, needs analysis, and job evaluation.
• Identify factors influencing human resource trends and forecasts using workplace scenarios.
• Identify and describe factors that impact individual and organizational performance and develop an action plan for improving personal performance.
• Analyze current employment discrimination laws, identify factors impeding equal employment and develop a plan for minimizing the impact of these factors within an organization.
• Develop a flow chart of a recruitment and selection process, using affirmative action guidelines.
• Develop training and development plans for new or under-producing employee.
• Analyze employee rights in the workplace using current laws and regulations and evaluate organizational compliance.
• Compare an organization’s safety and health standards against OSHA and WISHA standards.
• Explain the advantages and disadvantages to unionization
• Identify determinants in union-management relations, and describe a method of reducing labor relations problems.
• Analyze an actual performance appraisal system and make recommendations for improvement.
• Compare various means of compensation, including incentives and benefits and evaluate how compensation is used to attract and retain employees.
• Demonstrate personal responsibility and accountability by attending class, actively participating, and meeting time commitments.

Students will:

• Identify and explain the advantages and disadvantages of small business ownership in a free enterprise economy.
• Develop a preliminary business plan including business description, product strategy, legal requirements, market analysis, marketing plan, organizational structure, and financial plan.
• Research a small business opportunity using a variety of information sources including forms of business ownership, federal/state/local tax implications, and resources for capitalization.
• Identify various elements that distinguish a successful business plan from an unsuccessful business plan including professional presentation, organization of content, accurate data, and funding contingencies.  
• Describe the interdependent relationship of various business functions related to small business including marketing, finance, and business operations.

Students will:

• Describe management as a process and illustrate what managers do, how they do it, and the tools and techniques utilized.
• Distinguish between "management", "supervision," and "leadership" and describe the emphasis of each in transactional or transformational activities.
• Explain the role of mission statements, policies, procedures, rules, and job descriptions within an organization and how they influence the responsibilities of supervisors/managers.
• Analyze problems faced by management and apply appropriate theories to personal and/or work situations.
• Recognize and manage the dynamics of organizational change as they relate to self and the supervision of others.
• Distinguish between "good" and "poor" work ethics when given a variety of workplace situations.
• Apply principles of recruiting, interviewing, selecting, orienting, training, and evaluating new employees in a real life or simulated activity.
• Interact professionally in the workplace as determined by business/industry best practices and in accordance with applicable federal and state employment laws.
• Assess multicultural factors that impact the management process to include the employment process and advancement opportunities.
• Demonstrate personal responsibility and accountability by attending class, actively participating, and meeting time commitments.

Fundamental Areas of Knowledge and Core Abilities Outcomes

General Education at Pierce College prepares graduates to live and work in a dynamically changing world by emphasizing whole student development through fundamental areas of knowledge and the college five core abilities.