Accounting (concentration) Business

The Global Business theme is designed to build students' skills, knowledge and abilities to consider the influence of culture, law, geography and the global economy as applied to business decisions. Coursework from across business disciplines is used to enhance students' awareness of the differences and similarities in business conduct around the globe. Typical topics of study include the formulation of global strategy, understanding and reporting global transactions, issues in trade, finance and currency, marketing across geographic boundaries and developing and coordinating global supply chains.

The Global Business theme complements coursework in broader areas such as economic development, regional business environments, and/or management, marketing, trade, and finance. The student will be encouraged to combine business courses with supplemental coursework in related international subjects such as language, history, politics, and culture. Students are highly encouraged to study abroad and obtain minimum competency levels in a second language to add to their understanding of global business.

Possible Career Paths following a Global Business Theme: depending upon a student's interests and skills, the Global Business theme can help prepare students for careers involving international market analysis, international commercial and investment banking, portfolio analysis and risk assessment, new market development and international management and consulting.

This theme provides knowledge, competencies and experiences for students interested in sustainable business, including but not limited to social and environmental sustainability. Sustainable businesses maximize shareholder value over the long run with leaders who are innovative, and who manage interactions with stakeholders across the economic, social, environmental and political spheres. Students involved in the Sustainable Business theme are challenged to recognize business opportunities and points of tension between the needs of the natural environment, social justice, and the demands of business and economic growth, all of which affect a variety of stakeholders, such as employees, investors, and local and global communities.

Required business electives and participation in a capstone course will give students the opportunity to synthesize and validate their evolving perspectives in both academic and applied settings. Students may enhance their understanding of sustainable business by taking courses spanning a number of different disciplines outside of business such as ecology, economics, environmental studies, political science, history and sociology.

Possible Career Paths following a Sustainable Business Theme: careers in sustainable business, are found in such varied fields as clean technology startups, environmental protection and remediation, waste reduction, the fossil fuels industry, green building, sustainable agriculture, climate change, and renewable energy and energy efficiency. Students pursuing the Sustainable Business theme may also pursue careers in industries that are pursuing strategies to reduce their negative social and environmental footprint. These careers may range from sustainability consulting, carbon finance, corporate social responsibility and corporate environmental management.

The Entrepreneurship theme focuses on the creation of new enterprises and regeneration of existing family or non-family enterprise by developing the core capabilities of idea generation, opportunity recognition and evaluation, resource acquisition, and entrepreneurial leadership. Entrepreneurship theme students will learn to shape their careers by building on who they are, what they know, and whom they know to access financial, human, and social resources from their environment.

Courses in this theme aim to help students develop skills applicable to numerous challenges and opportunities including, managing proficiently in rapidly growing global markets, comfort with ambiguity and personal risk-taking. Experiential exercises are used to develop skills in networking, team building, business feasibility assessment and business plan development for new and existing enterprises. Additional experiential opportunities include participation in Case Competitions and Pitch Competitions. The skills and competencies gained through the Entrepreneurship theme are vital for the success of any business or organization start-up, corporations, family business, non-profit, franchise, or other settings.

Possible Career Paths following an Entrepreneurship theme: many of the students who choose the Entrepreneurship theme plan to, or already have, started their own businesses. Other graduates are in high demand as employees for companies stressing innovation and change. Some students studying the Entrepreneurship theme may choose to work for a family or closely held business, purchase a franchise, work as a business consultant, or enter the financial services industry.

In addition to completing the requirements for the interdisciplinary theme, all students must complete four (4) courses within a selected concentration (for students who matriculated into UVM starting in fall 2016, five (5) courses within a selected concentration are required). The concentration should be declared in the junior year. The available concentrations include:

• Accounting
• Finance
• Marketing
• Business Analytics