Lumen’s new Introduction to Business course will be delivered in Lumen One, a new platform that brings together the best of Lumen’s teaching & learning solutions including a full suite of professional development resources to support evidence-based teaching.
The course develops students’ understanding of business fundamentals with timely, real-world case studies and examples. The content emphasizes the constantly shifting business landscape and prepares students for success in business and the workplace. The language of the text is conversational, explaining concepts that might be unfamiliar to students due to their life experiences and making them more relevant. The Lumen One Introduction to Business course strives to offer examples and case studies that students can relate to, no matter what their backgrounds are.
Highlights of this Course:
- Career Connection presents content encouraging students to plan and follow through with necessary career development activities.
- Diverse businesses are used as examples in case studies, videos, and in the readings to mirror the diversity of our students and in the marketplace.
- Instructor resources including:
- Conversation Starters to spark discussion, engage students, and build community
- Extension Activities are provided to faculty to allow for further enrichment and enhancement.
- Flexible delivery to make it easy to implement in any course format (e.g. asynchronous or hybrid).
- Extensive list of current videos showcasing diverse businesses allowing students to dive deeper into their learning.
Designed to Support Equity
Combining the best features across Lumen, Lumen One is the first courseware product built with a focus on equity. With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Lumen One was developed to promote equitable outcomes in gateway courses. Lumen One’s unique features are specifically designed to boost participation, engagement, and overall learning to ensure success for all students.
Highlight features of Lumen One:
- Tools to create and foster connection between faculty and students.
- A Faculty Engagement center that provides faculty with easy-to-access actionable data to enable timely interventions when students need it the most.
- Varied, relevant content designed to engage students.
- Personalized study plans with immediate feedback to reinforce strong study skills.
- Easy-to-use automated messaging tools to better support students.
- Supported peer community to provide students with meaningful help from subject matter experts and peers.
- Embedded resources to support faculty to use effective teaching practices and easily do their best work.
Content
(Subject to minor changes prior to course release)
Business in Society
- The concept of business
- The four factors of production
- Functional areas of business
- Business stakeholders
- External forces shaping the business environment
- Career Connection: Hard skills vs. soft skills
Economic Fundamentals
- Fundamental economic principles
- Different types of economies
- Macroeconomics vs. microeconomics
- Supply and demand
- Market equilibrium, surplus, and shortage
- Evaluating economic health
- Career Connection: Career and self-development
The Global Business Environment
- Globalization
- Measuring global trade
- Strategies for reaching global markets
- Factors that affect global business
- Global trade agreements and international organizations
- Career Connection: Communication
The Financial System
- The role of money
- The role of banks in the U.S. monetary system
- Monetary policy and the Federal Reserve System
- Obtaining financial capital for businesses
- Career Connection: Critical thinking
Legal Environment
- The purpose of law
- Statutory vs common law
- Tort law and product liability
- Intellectual property law
- Contracts and warranties
- Consumer protection and antitrust statutes
- Career Connection: Equity and inclusion
Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility
- Ethical vs. legal behavior
- Business ethics
- Common ethical challenges
- Corporate social responsibility
- Ethical challenges in a global environment
- Career Connection: Leadership
Business Ownership
- Choosing an organizational type
- Sole proprietorships
- Partnerships
- Corporations
- Hybrid forms of business ownership
- Franchises
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Career Connection: Professionalism
Entrepreneurship
- Small business contributions to the U.S. economy
- Traits of successful entrepreneurs
- Deciding to start a small business
- Steps to starting a business
- Key components of a business plan
- Career Connection: Teamwork
Management
- The three levels of management
- Key skills needed by managers
- Management theory and the key functions of management today
- Types of planning and decision making in management
- The organizing function of management
- Common types of organizational structures
- Management and leadership styles
- The control function of management
- Career Connection: Technology
Teamwork and Communication
- Groups vs. teams
- Characteristics of different types of teams
- The stages of team development and factors for team success
- The importance of effective communication
- Common barriers to effective communication
- Typical communication channels, flows, and networks
- Risks and ethical issues of electronic communication
- Career Connection: The reverse chronological resume
Human Resource Management
- Human resource management and business success
- Key laws affecting human resource management
- Recruiting and hiring employees
- Training, developing, and rewarding employees
- Challenges facing today’s HR managers
- Career Connection: The functional vs reverse chronological resume
Motivating Employees
- The Hawthorne effect
- Need-based theories of worker motivation (Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Herzberg’s two-factor theory, McClelland’s acquired needs theory)
- Process-based theories of motivation (equity theory, expectancy theory, reinforcement theory)
- Theory X, Theory Y, and Theory Z managers
- Job design and goal-setting theory
- Career Connection: Customizing a resume for an applicant tracking system
Managing Processes
- Operations management in the production of goods and services
- The main categories of production processes
- Planning and scheduling the production process
- Emerging production and delivery technologies
- Supply chain management and logistics
- Common management techniques for quality assurance
- Career Connection: The cover letter
Marketing Function
- The role of customers in marketing
- The value proposition
- Segmentation and targeting
- The process and goal of market research
- The 4Ps of the marketing mix
- Aligning marketing strategies with corporate strategies
- Career Connection: Networking
Marketing Mix
- Common product marketing strategies
- Marketing considerations throughout the product life cycle
- Integrated marketing communication
- Common product distribution strategies
- Common pricing strategies
- Career Connection: The elevator pitch
Accounting and Finance
- Accounting as a form of business communication
- Financial vs managerial accounting
- The accounting equation
- Key financial statements and their components
- Ethical practices in accounting and the implications of unethical behavior
- Career Connection: Interview skills
Using Technology to Manage Business Information
- Technology in business
- The ways in which information is used in business
- Comparison of ways that businesses manage information
- Security, privacy, and trends in information technology
- Career Connection: Following up after an interview
Topic List by Module – subject to minor changes prior to course release.