Business Management Major

Undergraduate Business Management Major

Go beyond traditional. Reach for transformational.

As a Business Management major, you’ll master the art and science of working with people and leading in a business world that hinges on strategy and decision-making.

And you’ll emerge ready to take the reins on your own managerial career in any organization, large or small.

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I constantly use techniques taught in my Business Communication and Capstone courses. Even after receiving my most recent promotion, I was able to use some of the skills I learned in my negotiation course to obtain a few additional benefits.

Brittany Smythe ’11 BSBA (Business Management)

Business Management Major Overview

This major is designed for students who expect to hold managerial positions in large or small organizations.

Business Management involves two broad domains. The first is working with people: hiring, training, coordinating and creating an effective environment for the attainment of organizational objectives. The second is laying a foundation for becoming a manager of a business or organizational unit where strategy and decision-making skills are important.

Business Management Advising

Every Eller student has an assigned advisor to help with the academic questions that come up as you study here. Get to know the Business Management advisor. 

Meet Caryn isom fraser, the Business Management Advisor

Department of Management and Organizations

The Eller Management and Organizations Department faculty are leaders in the latest thinking on organizational behavior and managerial decision making.

Explore the Management and Organizations Department


Business Management Sample Coursework Plan

How your Eller experience can play out:

This sample plan is based on 14-17 credits per semester, but each student and their academic plan is unique. Please meet with your Academic Advisor to create a custom plan for you.  Please note that your general education, including second language, requirements are determined by when you were admitted to the university.  Your Academic Advisor can help you navigate the requirements relevant for you. For a full list of official degree requirements, check out the University General Catalog

First Year

1st Semester
Course Units
ENGL 101* First Year Composition  
MIS 111* Computers and Internetworked Society 
MIS 112* Computers and Internetworked Society Lab  
MATH 112 College Algebra Concepts and Applications  
General Education and/or Second Language  
    
Attend Eller Career Expo and UA Fall Career Days
3
3
1
3
3
Total 13-17    
2nd Semester
Course Units
ENGL 102* First Year Composition  
MATH 116* Calculus Concepts for Business Majors
General Education  
General Education and/or Second Language 
BNAD 100 Language and Context of Business  
   
Attend Career Showcase and UA Spring Career Days 
3
3
3
3-7
1
Total 13-17
Summer
Use summer to catch up on math if behind in sequencing based on placement results prior to your first year.

Sophomore Year

1st Semester
Course Units
BNAD/BNAN 276* Statistical Inference in Management 
ACCT 200* Introduction to Financial Accounting  
ECON 200* Basic Economic Issues  
General Education  
General Education
BNAD 200 Career Management in Business  
    
Attend Eller Career Expo and UA Fall Career Days
3
3
3
3
3
1
Total 16
2nd Semester
Course Units
ACCT 210* Introduction to Managerial Accounting  
BNAD/BNAN 277* Analytical Methods for Business 
BCOM 214* Fundamentals of Business Communication  
General Education  
General Education or Ethics**  
   
Attend Career Showcase and apply for Professional Admissions in February, and attend UA Spring Career Days
3
4
3
3
3
Total 16
Summer
We highly recommend that students participate in a study abroad and career-related experience.

In order to take the following upper-division courses, students must be admitted to the major through a competitive and selective Professional Admission process.  

Professional Phase

1st Semester
Course Units

MGMT 310A Organization Behavior and Management  
MKTG 361 Introduction to Marketing  
BCOM 314R Business Communication  
FIN 311 Introduction to Finance
MGMT 330 Introduction to Human Resources Management 

Attend Eller Career Expo and UA Fall Career Days

3
3
3
3
3
 
Total 15
2nd Semester
Course Units
ECON 300 Microeconomic Analysis for Business Decisions
OSCM 373 Basic Operations Management  
MIS 304 Using and Managing Information Systems  
BMGT Major Elective Course 
BMGT Major Elective Course  
   
Attend Career Showcase and UA Spring Career Days
3
3
3
3
3
 
Total 15
Summer
Use summer to gain career-related experience through internships, study abroad, or volunteering.

Professional Phase

3rd Semester
Course Units

MGMT 402 Integrating Business Fundamentals with Ethics and Law in Management  
ECON 330 Macroeconomic and Global Institutions and Policy  
ENTR 485 Innovating: Creating the Future  
BMGT Major Elective Course 
BMGT Major Elective Course 

  
Attend Eller Career Expo and UA Fall Career Days

3
3
3
3
3
 
Total 15
4th Semester
Course Units

MGMT 471 Management Policies   
General Education 
General Education
Minor, Electives, or remaining General Education requirements

Attend Career Showcase and UA Spring Career Days, and Graduation in May

3
3
3
3-6
Total 12-15
Summer
Enjoy your summer and continue the job search if necessary!

Students can meet the Second Language requirement by demonstrating second semester proficiency through examination or taking any of a variety of second semester language courses. Each student needs to meet a minimum of 120 total credits. Students are strongly encouraged to take BNAD 100 and BNAD 200 to develop their professional knowledge and competencies required for success in the upper division. Please consult with your Advisement Report and your academic advisor.

Effective Spring 2024, the prefix  changed from BNAD 276 to BNAN 276, and BNAD 277 to BNAN 277. 

* Eller Foundation Courses: Required to apply for Professional Admission into the Professional Program. Professional Admission is required in order to take all 300 & 400-level Professional Core and Major Courses. Students transferring directly into the upper division who do not have a BCOM 214 equivalent completed will be required to take BCOM 315 before graduation instead.

** Business Emphasis Area: Students are required to take one Ethics course. This course must be completed prior to graduation; it does not need to be completed before applying for Professional Admission.


Business Management Cohort Schedules

View Business Management major cohort schedules by semester:

Business Management Sage Cohort

SAGE COHORT Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday
8:00-9:15   BCOM 314R*   BCOM 314R*
9:30-10:45 MGMT 330 BCOM 314R* MGMT 330 BCOM 314R*
11:00-12:15 MGMT 310A FIN 311 MGMT 310A FIN 311
12:30-1:45 MKTG 361   MKTG 361  

Business Management Silver Cohort

SILVER COHORT Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday
9:30-10:45 MGMT 330   MGMT 330  
11:00-12:15   FIN 311   FIN 311
2:00-3:15 MGMT 310A BCOM 314R* MGMT 310A BCOM 314R*
3:30-4:45 MKTG 361 BCOM 314R* MKTG 361 BCOM 314R*

* Students will take BCOM 314R at one but not both times.

Business Management Sage Cohort

Sage COHORT

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

8:00 - 9:15

 

BCOM 314R*

 

BCOM 314R*

9:30 - 10:45

MGMT 330

BCOM 314R*

MGMT 330

BCOM 314R*

11:00 - 12:15

MGMT 310A

FIN 311

MGMT 310A

FIN 311

12:30 - 1:45

MKTG 361

 

MKTG 361

 

Business Management Silver Cohort

Silver COHORT

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

9:30 - 10:45

MGMT 330

 

MGMT 330

 

11:00 - 12:15

 

FIN 311

 

FIN 311

2:00 - 3:15

MGMT 310A

BCOM 314R*

MGMT 310A

BCOM 314R*

3:30 - 4:45

MKTG 361

BCOM 314R*

MKTG 361

BCOM 314R*

Business Management Sage Cohort

Sage COHORT

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

8:00 - 9:15

 

OSCM 373

 

OSCM 373

9:30 - 10:45

 

MIS 304

 

MIS 304

Business Management Silver Cohort

Silver COHORT

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

2:00 - 3:15  

OSCM 373

 

OSCM 373

3:30 - 4:45  

MIS 304

 

MIS 304

*ECON 300 is pre-enrolled for all students and is a fully online iCourse for the Fall 2021 semester.  

Business Management Sage Cohort

sage COHORT

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

8:00-9:15 MGMT 402       
2:00 - 3:15  

ECON 330

 

ECON 330

Business Management Silver Cohort

silver COHORT

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

2:00 - 3:15  

ECON 330

 

ECON 330

5:00-6:15

MGMT 402

 

 

 

 ** All third semester Business Management students will be required to take a ENTR 485 that will be held one day a week either Tuesday, or Thursday at 8 a.m. or 3:30 p.m. for a 2 and 1/2 hour period.

Business Management Sage Cohort

Sage COHORT Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday
9:30 - 10:45   MGMT 471*   MGMT 471* 
11:00-12:15   MGMT 471*   MGMT 471*

Business Management Silver Cohort

Silver COHORT Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday
2:00 - 3:15   MGMT 471*   MGMT 471* 


Business Management Elective Course Options

The following Business Management electives are available:
*
Please note that course offerings can change each semester. The information below shows potential offerings but does not guarantee an offering in any specific semester.

This course deals with the cultural, economic, political, legal, commercial and social context in which multinational corporations, especially American businesses, operate in emerging regions. This includes consideration of factors that shape or reflect the operational realities of management and marketing in emerging regions.

Units: 3
Usually offered: Summer
Reserved for: Summer Global Cohort admit students

This course provides a project based, integrative course that brings together all aspects of business.  Students are challenged to integrate accounting, marketing, finance, operations and management skills into one project.  Classroom activities focus on consulting skills and help students develop a framework for analyzing current business processes with a problem solving aim.  Each student consulting team will work with a local small business owner.  Professional guidance and mentoring for each team will be provided by local business professionals and Eller alumni, in addition to Eller faculty and staff.

Units: 3
Usually offered: Spring

This course will provide students with both academic and real-world knowledge and experience in creating social impact.   We will examine a variety of organizational structures including nonprofit, for profit, and hybrid organizations such as B corps, looking for best practices in social innovation.  We will study how leaders create positive change by cycling through the social impact cycle, and we will learn about local organizations of various kinds and sizes and evaluate their efforts to innovate in addressing complex issues.

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall, Spring

After completion of the course, you will have a comprehensive understanding of managing effective non-profit organizations including: understanding nonprofit organizations, governing and leading, accountability, capacity, strategic planning, managing staff and volunteers, and fundraising. You will learn through visiting and meeting influential non-profit leaders in the community, reading, and hands on projects.

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall

This course will provide students with real-world knowledge and experience in management consulting for nonprofit organizations.  Specifically, students work in teams and use their business expertise to consult on projects with nonprofit organizations in the community. This action-based course provides students with the opportunity to work with organizations making a positive impact on the Tucson community. Students will learn through hands-on experiences with actual clients to develop resume building experiences and skills valued in the work place. Focused application of consulting, business-related research, and client management will be the emphasis of this course.

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall, Spring

Law of Contracts; Principal-Agency (Employer-Employee) relationships; Unincorporated Business Associations-Partnerships; Limited Partnerships; Limited Liability Companies; Corporations; Property Rights and other subjects such as negotiable instruments; Wills and Probate of Estate. 

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall, Spring

An integrative, case-oriented course focusing on problems and policies in the procurement, development, compensation, and motivation of personnel.

Units: 3
Usually offered: Spring

To understand the theory and processes of negotiation to negotiate successfully in a variety of settings comfortable and adept in future negotiations. 

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall, Spring

This course is designed to help students acquire the skills and knowledge to become more effective managers of people in organizations. Students will learn effective people management practices, explore how these practices fit with an organization's strategy and structure, and equip students with some basic skills for applying these practices. Increasingly, the task of managing and developing people is shared between human resources and general managers. Therefore, whether a student's functional concentration is marketing, finance, information technology, operations management, or human resources, understanding how to manage people, and how an organization's context affects the effectiveness of people management practices, is critical for a manager's and their organization's performance.

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall, Spring

Broaden perspectives on globalizing business and international integration.  Enhance analytical and communication skills in approaching and resolving international issues.

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall, Spring

This course focuses on the management and organization of healthcare delivery, particularly in the United States. The course examines the salient features of the healthcare context, the unique challenges these features produce for managers in that industry and solutions that organizations have used to address those challenges. Micro to macro challenges and solutions are explored, with a particular emphasis on the ways that leadership, human resources, culture, operations, organization design and strategy influence the quality, safety and costs of care and the patient experience.

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall, Spring

The objective of this class is to enhance your understanding of what makes leaders effective in organizational settings.  Although there are many different ways of defining leadership effectiveness, the majority of these definitions suggest that effective leaders are those that: improve the performance and attitudes of employees; motivate people to perform "above and beyond the call of duty;" and enhance organizational effectiveness.  Thus, during the first half of this class, we will: (a) explore the criteria of leadership effectiveness, (b) identify those leader behaviors that have been found to be the most important ones for enhancing leadership effectiveness, and (c) explore how you can improve your own leadership "style."  However, since leadership is dynamic, much of the material in the second half of the class will be directed at understanding some of the challenges that leaders face in different types of organizational and cultural environments.

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall, Spring

The purpose of this course is to help students think about the design, structure, and management of organizations. This course will introduce students to organization theory—a field that draws on ideas from the disciplines of sociology, psychology, economics and political science. The goal is to teach students to think about and understand organizations using concepts that organization theory provides. The course is designed to encourage students to actively and critically use these concepts to diagnose, design, manage, change and generally make sense of the organizations in which they now—or will in the future—participate.

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall, Spring

Application of behavioral science knowledge to group functioning in organizations with emphasis on perspectives from organizational behavior, social psychology and sociology. 

Units: 3
Usually offered: Spring

In this course you will focus your business and entrepreneurial skills on contemporary healthcare challenges and opportunities.  Through a series of readings, case studies, discussions, guest speakers, and assignments, you will explore a number of contemporary healthcare problems and identify entrepreneurial solutions to these problems.

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall, Spring

Examines employee training and development as a systematic planned strategy for continuous expansion of employee competence, broadly defined , in order to meet organizational and individual goals.

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall, Spring

The sales function and its relationship to the total marketing program; sales strategies and objectives; development and administration of sales organizations; control and evaluation of sales operations.

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall, Spring

The goal of the class is to expose students to various topics in management through laboratory simulations and demonstrations. The class will be organized in modules, each containing a laboratory simulation, analysis of results and output, class discussion and a written report.

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall, Spring

In the 21st century, Africa (along with Asia and Latin America) is often referred to as one of the emerging markets of the world. This recognition has cast Africa as occupying the last frontier market of modern international business and global capitalism. AFAS 463 Doing Business In/ With Africa is designed to provide cultural grounding and competency in Africa for students  and professionals interested  in conducting business and/or working with government agencies and non-profit organizations in Africa. Its focus, therefore, is the cultural aspect of the international business environment of Africa.

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall, Summer; Only available for students admitted to the MGMT major prior to Fall 2020.

Operational aspect of quality improvement. Topics include statistical process control, quality management programs.

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall; Only available for students admitted to the MGMT major prior to Fall 2020.

Persuasion is central to organizations and business. Whether you are a supervisor trying to motivate an employee, a salesperson trying to land a client, a CEO inspiring organizational members toward a new vision, a marketing professional trying to create a product niche, or an entrepreneur attempting to garner financial support for a new venture, persuasion lies at the heart of organizational processes. This course is designed to develop student understanding of the role of persuasion in organizations and business settings. 

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall, Spring

Productive systems, including service type industries; activities entailed in selecting, designing, operating, controlling, and updating systems. Forecasting, aggregate planning, MRP, inventory models under uncertainty, scheduling.

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall; Only available for students admitted to the MGMT major prior to Fall 2020.

Productive systems, including service type industries; activities entailed in selecting, designing, operating, controlling and updating systems. Topics include strategy and competition, supply chain management, project management, facilities layout and location, quality and assurance, and reliability and maintainability.

Units: 3
Usually offered: Spring; Only available for students admitted to the MGMT major prior to Fall 2020.

Critical examination of various research activities taking place in the field of management and organizational behavior. 

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall, Spring

This class is about the science and practice of becoming a better influence "detective", being a more effective agent of change, and better defending against influence attempts used against us when they are not desired. This class integrates research from organizational behavior, psychology, decision making, behavioral economics, marketing, advertising, and other disciplines to gain a more complete understanding of influence in a variety of organizational contexts

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall, Spring

Organization, management and control of material flow processes; logistical strategies and relationships of procurement, handling, warehousing, transportation, and inventory control.

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall; Only available for students admitted to the MGMT major prior to Fall 2020.

Survey of research on topics that have to do with gender and organizations. Topics include social determinants of career choice, perceptions and performance of men and women as managers, occupational sex segregation, work and family issues, implications of technological change for women's employment, affirmative action and comparable worth.

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall, Spring

Integration of marketing, production and management functions. Pro forma statements. Development of venture capital. 

Units: 4
Usually offered: Fall, Spring
Reserved for: Entrepreneurship students; Must be admitted into the NVD Program in order to take this course.

Application of behavioral decision frameworks to managerial and organizational decisions. Emphasis on recognizing common decision making errors and how to avoid them in order to improve decision making.

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall, Spring
Grading: Regular

Focusing your business and entrepreneurial skills on social and/or environmental problem solving. 

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall, Spring

This is an applied consulting class. This course will be provided to give students an insight into the inner-workings of the university, while demonstrating methods of improvement applicable to individual colleges. Course may count as a Business Management major elective. Please see the Business Management advisor for substitution.

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall, Spring

Introduction to the major theories and research findings of social psychology. Specific topics covered in the class include the self, social cognition, attitudes, interpersonal relations, group processes, prejudice, and aggression. 

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall, Spring, Summer 

Application of the principles of psychology to industrial and social organizations, including personnel, human factors, organizational and consumer psychology.

Units: 3
Usually offered: Fall, Spring, Summer; Only available for students admitted to the MGMT major prior to Fall 2020.

Theories and research regarding large-scale organizations and their relations to the individual and society. 

Units: 3
Usually offered: Spring; Only available for students admitted to the MGMT major prior to Fall 2020.

View Other Management and Organizations Courses


Business Management Major Career Resources

Business Management Careers

Your Business Management degree translates to in-demand roles like sales, human resource administration, organizational analysis and project management.   

View Business Management Career Possibilities

Meet the Business Management Career Coach

Eller students have a world of options in front of them—which is why a dedicated career coach is so valuable. Get counseling, professional development and insight on internship and job opportunities awaiting you. 

Meet the Business Management Career Coach