IU Columbus Programs
Undergraduate Programs
Division of Business
The IU Columbus Undergraduate Program in Business provides opportunities for breadth of education and specializations. The program subscribes to the principle that a significant portion of a student’s academic program consists of rigorous higher education, electives, and business-specific courses. This assures a balanced program of study while enabling an interested student to specialize in one or more of the professional fields of business. Throughout the program, courses and assignments provide opportunities to foster fundamental business principles, develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, increase appreciation and effectiveness of respectful collaboration, build communication skills, and engage students in ethical decision-making. The experiential learning requirement exposes students to real-world business practices and better prepares them for full-time roles after graduation. Our ongoing focus on ethics and professional development ensures that our students come to understand the value of inclusive teams and relationships and the superior outcomes they create.
Majors in Business - Our Concentrations
Accounting
The accounting curriculum prepares students for careers in corporate accounting, auditing, management consulting, taxation, and accounting for governmental and nonprofit organizations. In addition, it equips the future business executive with tools for intelligent analysis, planning, control, and decision-making. Students study the methodology required to create and maintain accurate financial records of business transactions and the economic and managerial perspectives on the relationships between business activity, economic outcomes, and positive and negative evaluations of performance by preparing financial statements and reporting information such as business assets, liabilities, and operating expenses. Key credentials: The Accounting curriculum helps students prepare to pass the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Management Accountant (CMA) exams and provides an excellent foundation for students who want to pursue graduate work in business, public administration, or law.
Finance
For centuries, human beings have leveraged the power of trading to enhance quality of life, to innovate new solutions to old problems, and to create value for businesses, families, and individuals. Finance as an academic concentration explains the connections between investment activity, risk, decision-making, valuation, and the capital markets. Every day, business managers, investment managers, bankers, and individuals around the globe make choices about buying and selling assets and liabilities. The field of finance comprises the study of how business resources are allocated and managed, and how to create value. Knowledge learned in Finance allows students to measure the value of resources, to understand risk, and to manage debt. Financial analysis and study will involve other areas such as strategy, marketing, forecasting, risk assessment, and psychology. Key credentials: The financial curriculum helps students prepare to pass the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP) exams. Many other credentials exist within the field of Finance.
Innovation Management
Effective leadership in an advanced manufacturing setting emphasizes innovative thinking. The Innovation Management concentration infuses rigorous scientific methodology with design thinking in business, focusing on value creation in organizations where engineered systems are paramount to success. Students in the innovation management concentration take 21 more credits in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) compared with other business concentrations, providing specialized capabilities for solving complex business and operations problems. Students explore core business areas and topics required to help businesses reach their strategic goals and effectively manage resources. Potential career opportunities include positions such as supervisor or manager of production, project manager, operations manager, or quality manager.
Management
Society recognizes the importance of understanding both management itself and the complex nature of the organizations—in business, government, hospitals, and universities—in which managers operate. Management requires skill in coordinating people, processes, systems, and technology to generate desired outcomes for organizations. Effective business managers are proficient in supporting and enabling organizations to meet and exceed strategic priorities, goals, and objectives.
The management curriculum includes study of strategic management, organizational theory, human resource development, leadership, teamwork and diversity, and skills needed to address challenges in the global business environment. Through elective offerings students are able to pursue specialized areas such as project management, supply chain management, corporate or international finance, marketing research and more.
Marketing
The study of marketing concerns all activities related to the marketing and distribution of goods and services from producers to consumers. Areas of study include customer behavior, the development of product offerings to meet consumer needs, pricing policies, institutions and channels of distribution (including retailers and wholesalers), advertising, digital marketing, selling, sales promotion, research, and the management of marketing to provide for profitable and expanding businesses.
Students majoring in marketing will be qualified for careers such as advertising, public relations, marketing communications, sales and sales management, marketing research, product management and distribution and retail management.
Supply Chain Management
Our Supply Chain Management concentration covers the body of knowledge needed to begin a career in the increasingly critical field of global business, and the risks, costs, and benefits of sourcing labor and capital from places near or far. Students who complete this program will gain insights into the full range of activities including sourcing, logistics (transportation and warehousing), operations, forecasting, scheduling, inventory management, quality management, supplier development, and product life cycle management.
Students completing this concentration will be well prepared for careers as operations managers, production managers, supply chain planners, production planners, quality managers, purchasing managers, and procurement managers.
Business Minor
A 15-credit hour minor in Business is intended for non-business majors who have personal or career goals that will be reinforced by business coursework. The study of business helps students succeed in roles as entrepreneurs, consumers, investors, and employees. It accentuates and develops skills in decision-making, understanding and improving processes, and interpersonal relations, and broadens perspectives on inclusivity and teamwork in the workplace.
