1. Introduction -- What is business? -- History of business -- Business as trade -- The barter system -- The haves and have-nots : natural resources and where's the beef? -- Early traders -- The silk road -- Trader as raider -- Colonialism, the sun never sets on the British (French, Portuguese, Spanish) empire -- The first corporation -- Business as communication -- Pony express -- Business as economic development -- Summary -- 2. Business basics -- Types of businesses -- Sole proprietorship -- Partnership -- Corporation -- Limited liability company (LLC) -- Nonprofit organization -- Some basic economics -- Supply and demand -- Market forms -- Fixed and marginal costs -- The value chain -- Basic organization types -- Functional organization -- How to read an organization chart -- Multi-business unit or divisional organization -- Matrix organization -- Summary -- 3. Business strategy -- What is business strategy? -- Levels of strategy -- Different approaches to strategy -- Porter's competitive strategy -- Blue ocean strategy -- Core competencies -- Diversification strategy -- General Electric's number one or number 2 -- Scenario planning -- The balanced scorecard -- The strategy setting process -- A day in the life of a chief strategy officer -- A day in the life of a strategy management consultant -- At-home days -- Public speaking/presentation days -- Workshop days -- Company visit days -- Filming days -- Jobs in business strategy -- Internet resources -- Summary --
4. Leadership -- What is leadership? -- Fayol and Taylor : principles of management -- Leadership and power : uses and abuses -- Captain of the team : what does a leader do? -- Managing stakeholders -- Balancing act -- Developing leaders at all levels -- Leadership styles : how does a leader do it? -- Some examples -- Andy "Mad Hungarian" Grove, Paranoid CEO -- "Neutron" Jack Welch, America's toughest (and most admired) boss -- Meg Whitman, open-minded influencer -- Lee Iacocca, superstar CEO -- Harold "Mean" Geneen, micromanager extraordinaire -- "Chainsaw" Al Dunlop, Rambo in pinstripes -- The board of directors -- Corporate governance -- A day in the life of a COO -- A day in the life of a CEO -- Jobs in leadership -- Summary -- 5. Finance and accounting -- What is finance? -- Why is finance important? -- The concept of interest -- Present value and future value -- Risk -- Saving, spending, borrowing, and investing -- The "Quants" -- What is accounting? -- Financial statements -- Why are financial statements important? -- The balance sheet -- The income statement -- Other financial statements -- Where accounting and finance meet -- The audit function -- Control systems -- Some control failures -- Investors : shareholders and bondholders -- Stocks -- Common versus preferred stock -- Stock exchanges -- Stock split -- The annual meeting -- Proxies -- Creditors -- Loans and leverage -- Bonds -- Bonds and interest rates -- What is a credit rating? -- The yield curve -- A day in the life of a chief financial officer -- Internet resources -- Educational sites -- Financial statement analysis -- Job assistance sites -- Summary --
6. Marketing -- What is marketing? -- Why is marketing important? -- Strategic marketing plans -- The SWOT analysis -- BCG growth, share matrix -- Identifying your customers -- Customer, shopper, user -- Customer profiles -- Marketing approaches -- Mass marketing -- Mass customization -- Relationship marketing -- Internet marketing -- One-to-one marketing -- Customer relationship management -- Brands and branding -- Brand equity -- Brand extensions -- Laddering process or how to get at core values -- Unique selling proposition -- Advertising -- A day in the life of a marketing manager -- Internet resources -- General marketing information sites -- CRM software vendors -- Summary -- 7. Sales -- What is sales? -- Why is the sales function important? -- Distribution channels -- Selling to the consumer -- Selling to institutions -- Call centers -- Who is the customer? -- Segmentation of the sales force -- Reward structure (or incentives) -- Salary or commission? -- Quotas -- Public recognition and award programs -- A day in the life of a sales executive -- Internet resources -- Summary --
8. Management of information systems -- What is the management of information systems? -- The automation of information and communication -- Why is MIS/IT important? -- Business process engineering -- The people in MIS -- Information processing -- Data warehousing -- Data mining -- Legacy systems -- Decision support systems -- Data silos -- Data marts -- Swivel-chair networks -- Who owns the data? -- Systems design -- End product utility -- System reliability -- Repair and upgrades -- Security -- Hacker and phisher patrol -- Keeping business and customer data safe -- A day in the life of an MIS manager -- Internet resources -- Business intelligence software companies -- IT research companies -- Summary -- 9. Human resources -- What is human resources? -- Why is human resources important? -- Strategic versus transactional human resources -- Administrators, specialists, and generalists -- The hiring process -- Personality and skills tests -- Hire for skills or attitude? -- The appraisal process -- To rank or not to rank? -- Talent management and people development -- The diversity debate -- Training -- Job rotation and strategic assignments -- Building the generalist -- Motivation -- Reward systems -- Job-based pay -- Skill-based pay -- Pay for performance -- Organization development -- Organization behavior -- Organization design -- A day in the life of an HR manager -- Internet resources -- Educational sites -- Career information -- Organization development -- Summary --
10. Supply chain -- What is a supply chain? -- Supply chain versus value chain -- Why is the supply chain important? -- Partnering along the supply chain -- Procurement or purchasing -- What is purchasing? -- Why is purchasing important? -- Economies of scale -- Leveraging purchasing power -- B-2-B exchanges -- Auctions and reverse auctions -- Operations -- What is operations? -- Why is the operations function important? -- Mass production, mass consumption, and the disembodied worker -- Factors of production -- Manufacturing planning and control systems -- MRP and MRP-II -- Job shops -- Mass customization -- Lean manufacturing -- Just-in-time and Kanban -- Quality, six-sigma and ISO certification -- Outsourcing -- Why outsource? -- Logistics and distribution -- What is logistics? -- Scheduling algorithms (linear programming) -- What is distribution? -- RFID -- A day in the life of a supply chain manager -- Careers in supply chain management -- Layout worker -- Supervisor, electrical assemblies -- Logistics engineer -- Internet resources -- e-Procurement tools -- Decision analysis services -- Job shops (precision parts contract manufacturing) -- Summary --
11. Research and development
What is research & development?
Why is research & development important?
R&D as a percent of total sales (R&D intensity)
R&D through the generations
Different innovation models
The greenhouse effect : nurturing good ideas
Greatest idea and best failure awards
Customer insights or lead customer R&D
If we build it, will they buy it?
The design and development process
Evaluating product development
Phased process evaluations
A day in the life of an R&D manager
12. Other staff functions
What does the legal department do?
Intellectual property protection
Senior management counsel
Why is the legal department important?
Corporate social responsibility
Health, safety, and environment
A day in the life of a corporate affairs executive
Appendix : job/career training and preparation resources
