Business Administration (BS)

Concentrations

Accounting

Offered at: San Luis Obispo Campus

The accounting concentration prepares students for careers in public accounting (tax, audit and advisory), private industry, government, and not-for-profit organizations. Faculty build curriculum with the industry in mind to give students a thorough knowledge of accounting and tax laws along with the confidence to use those skills in leading a business toward success. The program is built upon a commitment to career readiness that empowers students to Learn by Doing through working with clients, tackling complex tax cases, and serving the community.

Consumer Packaging

Offered at: San Luis Obispo Campus

The Consumer Packaging Concentration offers an excellent pathway for Business Administration majors interested in entering the dynamic and rapidly evolving packaging industry. This sector is being transformed by global manufacturing growth, increasingly complex customer-supplier relationships, and advances in packaging technology.

Innovations in value chain management, product development, and sustainable packaging solutions are central to these industry shifts. Drawing insights from a wide range of established and emerging sectors —including food and beverage, cosmetics and personal care, consumer goods, automotive, healthcare, and electronics— this concentration prepares students to:

1. Conceptualize innovative packaging systems tailored to specific customer requirements.
2. Validate designs through data analysis and customer insights.
3. Develop a comprehensive understanding of various packaging materials and the associated testing equipment.
4. Execute both qualitative and quantitative marketing analyses for diverse products.
5. Explore critical considerations for package design, such as inclusivity, sustainable practices, and prevailing industry trends.
6. Consider intricate supply chain management and logistics considerations.

Entrepreneurship 

Offered at: San Luis Obispo Campus

The goal of the Entrepreneurship concentration is to empower students to create economic and social value either for a startup or as part of a high-performing entrepreneurial team within an existing organization. Students in the Entrepreneurship concentration will acquire the tools, develop the skills, and cultivate the mindset of an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship concentration comprises a carefully-curated set of required and elective courses, leading to a hands-on, balanced and interdisciplinary approach to entrepreneurial leadership that is applicable in for-profit and non-profit contexts; local and global settings; and service-, product-, or technology- based companies.

Financial Management

Offered at: San Luis Obispo Campus

The Finance Area offers Financial Management (FM) and Real Estate Finance (REF) concentrations. Both provide a rigorous, coherent, real-world, and up-to-date curriculum to prepare students for rewarding careers. The FM concentration is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) Institute Affiliate Program and a CFP® Board Registered Program, enabling our students to pursue both designations. Finance is a diverse and rapidly evolving field that encompasses a wide range of career paths—from managing corporate finance and advising individual clients to building models for global investment firms and developing technology-driven financial solutions. To help students better prepare for the demands of the modern finance industry, the FM concentration offers three optional specializations focusing on Financial Analytics, Financial Management, and Financial Planning and Wealth Management.

Information Systems and Analytics

Offered at: San Luis Obispo Campus

The Information Systems and Analytics (ISA) Concentration prepares students to enter the exciting world of information technology in business. Students learn to integrate key ISA concepts and technologies through coursework in database systems, application development, systems analysis and design, infrastructure and security management, and business analytics. The ISA faculty develop students for professional careers by focusing on teamwork, strong interpersonal skills, turning theory into practice, and employing state-of-the-art technologies in the classroom. ISA graduates are in high demand by recruiters because of their ability to apply an understanding of technology to problems while maintaining a focus on the business context. ISA graduates enjoy exciting career opportunities as analytics specialists, social media and web application developers, business consultants, IT infrastructure designers, business analysts, project managers, and data/database administrators, among many others.

Management and Human Resources

Offered at: San Luis Obispo Campus and Allan Hancock College

The Management and Human Resources (MHR) concentration prepares students for general leadership and management positions, and careers in more specific Human Resources (HR) positions. The HR portion of the curriculum prepares students to hit the ground running as an HR generalist and in specific HR functions such as recruitment, staffing, compensation and training and development. The Management portion of the curriculum prepares students for entry-level leadership and management positions, such as management training programs in large corporations, management consulting, and managerial positions in family businesses and other small organizations. Students will develop management skills such as leadership, organizational design, development, and change, global management, and negotiation.

Marketing Management

Real Estate Finance

Offered at: San Luis Obispo Campus

The Real Estate Finance concentration provides a program of study that focuses on emerging trends and issues in real estate markets. Students in the Real Estate Finance concentration learn to apply finance, economics, and computational techniques to real estate markets and projects with the major goal of producing rigorous price and investment analysis. In addition to quantitative methods, students are exposed to institutional details and current practice of the real estate industry through case study classes, industry guest speakers, field trips, professional licensing, and real estate competitions. The program prepares real estate professionals for private and public sector jobs in fields such as real estate brokerage, acquisition analysis, property appraisal, residential and commercial development finance, corporate asset management, mortgage lending, and real estate capital markets.

Supply Chain Management

Offered at: Solano Campus

The goal of the Supply Chain Management concentration is to prepare students for rewarding careers in designing, managing, and optimizing the flow of goods and services across global networks. Students graduating from the program will acquire the tools, develop the skills, and cultivate the strategic mindset needed to navigate the complexities of today’s dynamic and highly interconnected supply chains from the procurement of raw material to last mile delivery.

This program emphasizes experiential and applied learning, hands-on projects, and industry collaboration to prepare students to navigate the complexities of supply chain and drive innovation. Students will gain a solid understanding of the role of supply chain as a strategic function that creates value and drives competitive advantage.

In this program, students will acquire essential expertise in operations management, logistics, port and terminal operations, global sourcing strategies, and supply chain data analytics. We offer a unique curriculum designed to equip students with high demand skills needed to enter the rapidly growing field of supply chain management. In addition to technical knowledge, our business graduates are adept at managing people, demonstrating professionalism, and adapting to change. Essential skills for building resilient and agile supply chains in a rapidly evolving business environment.

Graduates of the program will have the opportunity to embark on a career such as Operations Manager, Supply Chain Manager, Logistics Analyst, Shipping Agent, Purchasing Manager, Transportation Manager, Account Manager, Vessel Planner, Junior Supply Officer, Supply chain planner, among others.

Program Learning Objectives

1. Apply knowledge to identify opportunities and solve business problems.
2. Use current technology to analyze data and drive business decisions.
3. Evaluate the social and ethical responsibilities of business organizations.
4. Evaluate the social, economic, and environmental impact of decisions made in their disciplines.
5. Engage team members whose backgrounds and perspectives differ.
6. Evaluate the cultural context of business decisions in a global environment.
7. Demonstrate effective written communication skills.
8. Demonstrate effective oral communication skills.
9. Demonstrate effective participation in teams.

Concentrations

Accounting

1. Prepare journal entries that measure and record the impact of financial transactions on the firm.
2. Analyze and prepare financial reports.
3. Explain effects of transactions on income statements and balance sheets.
4. Recognize the ethical dimensions and tax related implications for transactions.

Consumer Packaging

1. Conceptualize innovative packaging systems tailored to specific customer requirements.
2. Validate designs through data analysis and customer insights.
3. Develop a comprehensive understanding of various packaging materials and the associated testing equipment.
4. Execute both qualitative and quantitative marketing analyses for diverse products.
5. Explore critical considerations for package design, such as inclusivity, sustainable practices, and prevailing industry trends.
6. Consider intricate supply chain management and logistics issues.

Entrepreneurship

1. Demonstrate entrepreneurial discovery skills (questioning, observing, experimenting, associating, and networking) and the ability to generate new insights that impact a startup’s business model.
2. Contribute to the creation or iteration of a startup’s business model.

Financial Management

1. Distinguish among various financial intermediaries and markets.
2. Apply time value of money concepts.
3. Formulate and explain the relationship between risk-return tradeoff.
4. Synthesize data using appropriate visualization and statistical techniques.
5. Apply knowledge of advanced methods in financial data science to extract and report insights from financial data in various forms.
6. Employ discipline knowledge and skills orally and in written form in a professional manner.

Information Systems and Analytics

1. Develop business computer applications that implement basic programming constructs.
2. Apply concepts and techniques associated with relational database design and development.
3. Demonstrate technical skills in managing information systems infrastructure and addressing security issues.
4. Apply concepts and techniques associated with data analytics in the business environment.
5. Demonstrate interpersonal and teamwork skills required for information systems professionals.

Management and Human Resources

1. Describe how organizations function as social systems.
2. Apply theory to develop and change organizations.
3. Apply basic skills in human resources management.
4. Demonstrate interpersonal skills required for HR and managerial roles.

Marketing Management

1. Assess the role of marketing in a business enterprise.
2. Apply consumer behavior concepts to marketing.
3. Describe and apply the strategic marketing planning and execution process.
4. Identify the roles of advertising, sales promotion, and personal selling in integrated marketing communication.
5. Collect, evaluate, and apply primary and secondary customer data to solve marketing problems.

Real Estate Finance

1. Evaluate physical real estate (land and building analysis).
2. Evaluate real estate as a security (REITs, securitization).
3. Produce investment analysis for real estate.
4. Assess risk related to real estate.
5. Conduct market and best use analysis (zoning and build code requirements).
6. Explain the role of leverage and taxes.

Supply Chain Management

1. Analyze the flow of goods, services, and information to increase supply chain performance.
2. Evaluate different sourcing and procurement strategies for selecting suppliers, mitigating risk, and negotiating value-driven contracts.
3. Apply the principles of sustainability and quality tools to promote circular supply chains that reduce waste and maximize value.
4. Identify the key components of intermodal transportation and maritime logistics that support efficient global transportation.
5. Effectively use supply chain analytics techniques to optimize operations, enhance efficiency, and drive informed decision-making across various parts of the supply chain.

Note: No Major, Support or Concentration courses may be selected as credit/no credit. In addition, no more than 12 units of cooperative or internship courses can count towards your degree requirements.

¹

BUS 3343 is a substitute for BUS 1342. Students interested in the Financial Management and/or Real Estate Finance concentrations are strongly recommended to take BUS 3343. Students interested in the Entrepreneurship concentration are recommended to take BUS 1342.

²

Recommended for Entrepreneurship concentration students. For other concentration students, additional prerequisites may be needed to complete this requirement.

³

Recommended for Accounting concentration students. For other concentration students, additional prerequisites may be needed to complete this requirement.

⁴

Required in Major or Support; also satisfies General Education (GE) requirement.

⁵

MATH 1264 is recommended for those pursuing the Cross-Disciplinary Studies Data Science Minor or Actuarial Preparation Minor.

⁶

CHEM 1120 is recommended for those pursuing the Consumer Packaging concentration to fulfill GE Area 5A & 5C.

⁷

If a General Education (GE) course is used to satisfy a Major or Support requirement, additional units of Free Electives may be needed to complete the total units required for the degree.

⁸

Students should consider taking BUS 1204 for free electives.

Concentrations

Accounting

Consumer Packaging

¹

Courses taken to meet a major course requirement cannot be double-counted in the concentration.

²

CHEM 1120 is recommended for those pursuing the Consumer Packaging concentration to fulfill GE Area 5A & 5C.

Entrepreneurship

¹

Units in excess of total will be applied towards major's free electives.

²

Courses taken to meet a major course requirement cannot be double-counted in the concentration.

Financial Management

¹

All students need an approval from the finance chair to enroll in the Financial Management concentration.

²

Courses taken to meet a major course requirement cannot be double-counted in the concentration. Units in excess of total will be applied towards major's free electives.

³

Highly recommended for students in the Financial Analytics track.

⁴

Highly recommended for students in the Financial Management track.

⁵

Highly recommended for students in the Financial Planning and Wealth Management track.

Information Systems and Analytics

Management and Human Resources

¹

Courses taken to meet a major course requirement cannot be double-counted in the concentration.

²

Units in excess of total will be applied towards major's free electives.

Marketing Management

¹

Courses taken to meet a major course requirement cannot be double-counted in the concentration.

²

This course does not have an activity. Marketing requires this course to be four units.

Real Estate Finance

¹

All students need an approval from the finance department chair to enroll in the concentration.

²

All students enrolled in the concentration are recommended to pursue a minor with the CAED department. The most popular minor is the Real Estate Property Development minor.

³

Courses taken to meet a major course requirement cannot be double-counted in the concentration.

⁴

Highly recommended for students concentrating in real estate finance. This course also counts toward the real estate development minor.

Supply Chain Management

¹

Courses taken to meet a major course requirement cannot be double-counted in the concentration.

General Education (GE) Requirements

• 43 units required, 6 of which are specified in Major and/or Support.
• If any of the remaining 37 Units is used to satisfy a Major or Support requirement, additional units of Free Electives may be needed to complete the total units required for the degree.
• See the complete GE course listing.
• A grade of C- or better is required in one course in each of the following GE Areas: 1A (English Composition), 1B (Critical Thinking), 1C (Oral Communication), and 2 (Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning). 

¹

Required in Major or Support; also satisfies General Education (GE) requirement.

²

CHEM 1120 is recommended for those pursuing the Consumer Packaging concentration.

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