Online courses directory (412)

Gain the skills you'll need to succeed in the fast-growing field of project management.

As a student of economics, you must study the history of economic thought to understand why individuals, firms, and governments make certain choices. Economists try to answer three basic questions: what to produce, how to produce it, and for whom. The history of economic thought represents a wide diversity of theories within the discipline, but all economists address these three basic questions. As you learn more about the history of economic thought, you may realize that policies presented as great innovations today are founded upon centuries-old writings. You will learn that without a clear sense of the discussions and debates that took place among economists of the past, the modern economist lacks a complete perspective. By examining the history of economic thought, you will be able to categorize and classify thoughts and ideas and will begin to understand how to think like an economist. Economics is both a social science and a business subject; accordingly, economic thinking affects everything from art t…

This course is designed for the novice who has little or no word processing experience.  The course provides an introduction to word processing.  You will explore word processing skills while also learning to create a basic business letter and a business memo.  Although the resources in this course use Microsoft Word 2010, it should be noted that all of the basic skills and tasks that you will be asked  can be done on any word processing program.  If you stay flexible enough in your own word processing program to search out the commands and icons on whatever software you are using, you will succeed.  The most current version of Microsoft Word was selected, because it would be most beneficial to the job seeker.  In addition most colleges, universities, and some public libraries are using a newer version of Word.  You can complete this course using any word processing software, but if you are using an older version of Word, you may also want to seek out a resource where you can interact with the newer v…

Start Small, Leverage Technology, Minimize Risk and Start a Successful Business. No More Excuses for Wantrepreneurs.

BUS206 [1] introduced you to the subject of Management Information Systems (MIS). The focus of that initial course was on the nuts and bolts of information systems: how they work, how you create them, how to secure them, and so on. This course is developed to help you understand how information technology can be used as part of an organization’s overall strategy. In this course you will focus on the allocation and use of technology resources across an entire firm as part of the larger organizational strategy. Because firms do not have an unlimited supply of capital, they must decide when and where to deploy new information technology. Firms must not only focus on when to deploy IT, but also if they should deploy IT at all! This brings up the bigger question about technology: Can the use of IT bring a sustainable competitive advantage to an organization? There are those who say, “No”; and others who say, “Of course!”  You will explore the differing opinions out there on this topic in unit 1. In un…

This course surveys major topics and theories in the field of Industrial Organization.  As part of the applied microeconomics structure, Industrial Organization uses the basic tools of microeconomic theory and game theory to study the structure and behavior of firms and their strategic interactions with one another in the marketplace.  Industrial Organization also studies the impact that those interactions have on market structure and welfare. Different kinds of market structures (perfect competition, imperfect competition, monopoly, oligopoly, and so forth) present different scenarios in which firms strive to acquire and use market power for their strategic advantage.  While perfect competition and monopoly are two market structures on opposite ends of the spectrum, imperfect competitionwhere a limited number of firms attempt to manipulate their rivals or consumersis a more realistic set-up.  This course will emphasize market structure analysis and the strategic behaviors of competing firms, including…

This course will introduce you to entrepreneurship and business planning. By way of introduction, the word entrepreneur originates from the French word entreprendre, meaning to undertake. Today, we define an entrepreneur as an owner or manager of a business enterprise who attempts to make profits by starting and growing his or her business. In earnest, entrepreneurs are a diverse group of risk-takers who share the same goal of cultivating ideas and developing them into viable business opportunities. Take a quick look at the statistics below to get a sense for some of the (potentially surprising) qualities that have been attributed to entrepreneurs. According to a recent report by the US Census, every day approximately 2,356 Americans are becoming entrepreneurs by starting new businesses. According to 2006 report from Northeastern University’s School of Technological Entrepreneurship, 62% of entrepreneurs in the US claim innate drive as the number one motivator in starting their business. According t…

What is strategy?  When your friend tells you that his “strategy” in basketball is to win, he is not telling you a strategy at all.  A strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a goalin the case of your friend, a more appropriately defined strategy for his basketball game would be: “I am going to apply defensive pressure and force the opposing team to make mistakes with the end goal of winning the game.”  In this course, you will learn that you must first clearly define your goals before you develop strategies in order to achieve them.  You will also learn that strategy in business is similar to strategy in sports, war, or politics; the parallels are so close that early business strategists studied military strategies in depth.  The science of strategy development has developed beyond this by now, but the parallels still exist. Strategic Management involves two processes: first, the process of identifying specific goals for a firm and designing strategies to achieve those goals, and seco…

What are the secrets to managing successful teams in the workplace? Explore communication techniques and problem-solving skills that will help you get your team on track in no time.

In BUS103 [1] (Financial Accounting), we learned that firms need to track various forms of data in order to report to investors, regulators, and potential business associates such as customers and vendors.  Firm managers, however, often need information that is much more detailed than the data provided in these financial reports.  They use what is known as “managerial accounting” to make various decisions about their businesses.  To avoid information overload, much of their data is tailored to the needs of a particular business unit instead of generally applicable to the firm as a whole. As you might expect, different managers have different needs.  However, almost all management decisions deal with the same key issues: cost, price, and profit.  This course will examine this sort of decision-making, identifying the tools and methods managers use to make the best-informed decisions possible.  We will begin with an introduction to the terms that will be referenced in the later units.  We will then…

In this course, you will build on and apply what you learned in the introductory macroeconomics course (ECON102 [1]).   You will use the concepts of output, unemployment, inflation, consumption, and investment to study the dynamics of an economy at a more advanced level.   For example, now that you understand the relationship between supply and demand in general terms, you will be asked to examine the effects that short-run and long-run price changes have on full employment and output.  As the course progresses, you will gain a better appreciation for how policy shifts and changes in one sector impact the rest of the macroeconomy (whether the impacts are intended or unintended).  You will also examine the causes of inflation and depression, and discuss various approaches to responding to them.  By the end of this course, you should be able to think critically about the economy and develop your own unique perspective on various issues. Remember that macroeconomics attempts to explain the role of gover…

This course is designed to provide you with a thorough understanding of the importance of money, banking, and financial markets of a developed economy.  Money, financial institutions, and financial markets have emerged as instruments of payments for the services of factors of production, such as labor and capital.  The use of money facilitates business in a market by acting as a common medium of exchange.  Of course, as that market expands and develops on a national and international level, the importance of money, banking, and other financial markets expands to accommodate innumerable exchanges. This course will allow you to examine not only the origins and nature of money, but also the institutions and markets that have evolved to enable the exchange of goods and services worldwide.  It will provide you with the opportunity to examine the instruments and strategies assisting production, distribution, and consumption.  Also, this course will help you develop an appreciation for important concepts in e…

Professional Writing is designed to provide adult learners with the basic skills they need to write effective documents in the workplace.  In this course, you will learn how to analyze your audience so that you can write prose that is both clear and persuasive.  You will practice writing common business documents, such as emails, memos, proposals, and presentations.  You will also learn how to effectively edit these documents for maximum impact. This course is part of the Professional Development Program (PRDV), which is designed especially for adult learners who are ready to gain and apply skills demanded by today’s employers.

This will allow you access to more than 90 hours of content!

This course provides a strong grounding in the economics of information goods and services. Students analyze strategic issues faced by for-profit and not-for-profit organizations: pricing, bundling, versioning, product differentiation and variety, network externalities, and rights management. This course precedes SI 680. Course Level: Graduate This Work, SI 646 - Information Economics, by Mark McCabe is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.

A simple guide to getting all necessary to becoming successful in Forex trading

Learn the basics of small business and managerial accounting with this complete course.

A Simple Personal Finance System to Dissolve Debt, Build Wealth and Live the Life you Deserve!

Essential Tools and Techniques