Learn the essence of business applications. Understand how marketing differs from sales, how the marketing concept helps a firm succeed, and why consumer behavior is such a challenging topic. Increase your knowledge of the basics of international business and learn about the various options and requirements for success. Discover the nature of information technology and realize how operations management helps increase efficiency and effectiveness. Learn the definition of quality, discover the nature of Six Sigma and total quality management (TQM), and find out how to implement a quality culture. Understand the nature of project management and learn about the different phases of the project life cycle.

In this six-week online course, you will learn about market segmentation and target marketing. You will find out how culture, operations, and finance vary in the international arena. You'll understand the importance of quality standards and you'll also learn how to optimize the 15 essential elements of project management.

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Syllabus:

All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when the lesson is released, but you must complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.

A new section of each course starts on the second or third Wednesday of each month. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

Week One

Wednesday - Lesson 01

In this lesson, we'll compare the difference between marketing and sales and discuss what's meant by the "marketing concept." You'll learn how important it is to be consumer orientated and discover the 4Ps (product, place, price, promotion) as essential ingredients of a marketing strategy. You'll also see how marketing came into existence and find out how it's evolved over time.

Friday - Lesson 02

Market segmentation and target marketing are the one-two punch of marketing. You need both to score a knockout. Market segmentation identifies the customers you want to serve and then target marketing delivers the goods. Today we'll start off by discussing the nature of markets. We'll look at the three major ones: consumer, industrial, and reseller. We'll go over the mechanics of market segmentation and discuss eight variables (four consumer and four industrial) that you can use to satisfy target markets.

Week Two

Wednesday - Lesson 03

Consumer behavior is one of the most challenging topics in marketing. Today we'll talk about consumer behavior, paying special attention to the factors that make this field difficult to study. You'll learn about the interdisciplinary nature of consumer behavior as we study a few models that explain and predict why consumers buy. We'll finish the lesson by exploring the major elements of consumer behavior, including psychological and sociological concepts.

Friday - Lesson 04

Global business is happening at a faster rate than ever before. If you don't currently work for an organization that's involved with international business, perhaps you can use your newfound information in the future. In this lesson, we'll take a whirlwind trip around the world that will end in Lesson 6. You'll learn about the origins, characteristics, and definition of international business. We'll also look at the various ways to get started with international operations, including exporting and joint ventures. We'll finish up by reviewing how international business varies by key area, including economic, political, legal, culture, technology, and demographic considerations.

Week Three

Wednesday - Lesson 05

In this lesson, we'll continue our discussion on international business by exploring importing and exporting and looking at the ins and outs of licensing and franchising. You'll learn how to get started with joint ventures and determine the secrets that multinational companies (MNCs) use for success. You'll discover that MNCs must excel at communication, establish suitable performance measurements, exercise adequate control, and ensure that the right management team is in place.

Friday - Lesson 06

We'll finish up our excursion into international business by tackling three diverse topics—culture, operations, and finance. By the end of this lesson, you'll understand that culture is a composite of attitudes, beliefs, values, and lifestyles. In the area of operations and finance, we'll discuss variables that differ from country to country, such as logistics, technology transfer, exchange rates, transfer pricing, and taxation.

Week Four

Wednesday - Lesson 07

Technology is based on a fundamental human desire and ability to make things and to learn about the surrounding environment. Today we'll have a general discussion of the use of information technology in organizations and how you can effectively apply it. Also, we'll address specific forms of information technology, including enterprise resource planning (ERP), electronic data interchange (EDI), and electronic commerce (e-commerce).

Friday - Lesson 08

Operations management is one of the unheralded activities at most companies. Today we'll examine operations management by reviewing the in basket of three operations managers. Then we'll explore the diverse nature of operations management and see how selecting, designing, operating, controlling, and updating play an important role in all operating systems. We'll finish up by reviewing basic concepts such as customer demand forecasting, capacity strategies, productivity, and make-or-buy analysis.

Week Five

Wednesday - Lesson 09

A wise man once told me, "If you focus on quality, you will enjoy great success." In this lesson, we'll see what's behind this statement by exploring the history of the quality movement and examine Six Sigma. We'll study total quality management (TQM) and look at its components and concepts. We'll also discuss variation and the cost of nonquality (also called the "cost of quality") and its components—external failure, internal failure, appraisal, and prevention costs.

Friday - Lesson 10

Today we'll explore three very different elements of quality: standards, quality fallacies, and a quality culture. Conforming to standards helps your company remain competitive. Many companies won't buy your products, and most countries won't allow your goods to flow past their borders if you don't meet certain standards. We'll discuss how standards are used, identify where they came from, and talk about how they're developed. You'll learn about their benefits and discover how they're defined. We'll also examine the misconceptions that people have about quality and identify the requirements to implement a quality culture.

Week Six

Wednesday - Lesson 11

Do you ever wonder why some projects succeed and some don't? Well, wonder no more. In our final two lessons, I'll help you learn about project management so that you can better satisfy customers and bring your project in on time and at (or below) budget. Today we'll discuss the need for project management and differentiate projects from programs and tasks. You'll discover the temporary and unique aspects of projects and see how critical scope definition is to a project's success.

Friday - Lesson 12

In our final lesson, we'll look at the phases of the project life cycle: conceptualization and definition, planning, implementation, and completion and closure. You'll become familiar with 14 different elements of project management that will help you position your project for success. Hopefully we'll go over all the elements you use on your projects!

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This course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your questions. The instructor for this course will be Tony Swaim.

Tony Swaim has helped many clients, colleagues, and students reach their professional and personal goals. He has been an online instructor since 1998 and has taught at colleges and universities across the United States since 1981. His focus areas are project management, purchasing, continuous process improvement (CPI)/Six Sigma, and supply chain management. Tony manages a successful consulting firm, and his industry experience includes 20 years of supply chain management. He earned an MBA from California State University, Long Beach, and holds professional certifications in six disciplines, including the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI).

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Requirements:

Completion of Tony Swaim's Mastery of Business Fundamentals. Internet access, e-mail, and the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser.

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