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Executive Programs Offers Business Essentials for Technical Professionals in Fall 2012

The NC State Poole College of Management’s Executive Programs is offering its Business Essentials for Technical Professionals course in fall 2012.

This four-day course is designed for engineers, scientists, and others from applied technical fields who want to gain a deeper understanding of business. It will be delivered at NC State University on September 13 and 14 and October 25 and 26, 2012, in Raleigh, N.C.

A key goal of the program is to enable participants to become ‘Boundary-Spanners’ – technical leaders who have the general management awareness to work effectively across functional areas within their organization,” said Dan McGurrin, Poole College’s Executive Programs director.

“Today’s successful organizations need technical professionals who understand how their work intersects with marketing, finance, operations, strategy, and services,” McGurrin said. “This course will help participants understand the different functions, how they sometimes conflict with one another, and how management systems can streamline these activities.”

In keeping with Poole College’s focus on applied learning, Business Essentials participants also will work in small teams to complete a business planning project – either for a new product offering at their company or in support of a peer’s project.

“This experience not only develops teamwork skills, but also enables the students to develop and plan the business aspects of a new offering, including the marketing plan and strategy, while utilizing concepts taught in the course,” McGurrin said.

Key objectives for course participants include:

  • Gain a practical understanding of the different components of a business including finance, marketing, operations, strategy, and organizational behavior, and how to work more effectively with co-workers across the organization.
  • Better understand the drivers behind business decisions, which are considerably different than problem-solving skills developed in scientific and engineering disciplines.
  • Gain insight as to how business strategy is developed and executed.
  • Discover how different management systems and structures significantly affect leadership philosophies, performance management systems, and organizational dynamics.
  • Develop skills in managing across functions, in matrix systems, and in diverse organizations.
  • Learn financial analysis tools that provide critical insight on competitor actions.

Content areas include:

  • Effective leadership behaviors
  • Marketing strategy and market plans;
  • Business operations management including product- and service-centric operations;
  • Strategy and management systems, including corporate, division and department strategies and functional versus matrix structures; and
  • Financial management including statement and ratio analysis and drivers of financial decision-making.

Registration, cost and other details are available online at poole.ncsu.edu/executive.

For additional information, contact Dan McGurrin, director, NC State Poole College of Management Executive Programs.

About the NC State Poole College of Management and Executive Programs

The NC State University Poole College of Management focuses on management education for a technology driven global marketplace. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in accounting, business administration and economics, as well as custom and open enrollment programs through the NC State Executive Education LLC, a non-profit (501)(c)(3) under the NC State University Foundation, Inc. The college’s Jenkins Graduate School of Management offers the Master of Business Administration, Master of Accounting, and Master of Global Innovation Management programs. Graduate degrees in economics are offered jointly with NC State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Corporate engagement opportunities are available through the college’s Center for Innovation Management Studies and initiatives that that support academic and outreach programs in biosciences management, enterprise risk management, in¬novation management, supply chain management, and The Entrepreneurship Collaborative. Poole College’s accounting and business programs are accredited by AACSB International. | www.poole.ncsu.edu.