The Manning School of Business at UMass Lowell is a growing program that is made to prepare its students for the competitive global business environment. It includes exceptional teaching, learning and research opportunities for its Bachelor’s, Master’s and Ph.D. programs. The Manning School of Business is composed of three departments, Accounting, Management and Operations and Information Systems. The program makes it possible for about 1,700 undergraduate students to dual concentrate with two of the eight concentrations that are offered in the Manning School of Business. Within the Management departments, there are eight concentrations that are offered, Accounting, Entrepreneurship, Finance, International Business, Management, Management Information Systems, Marketing and Supply Chain and Operations Management.

The Accounting Concentration is a good option for students who are seeking a career as a CPA, a position in industry, government or a non-profit organization with a career path to controller, CFO, CEO, revenue agent, special agent or a career as a financial analyst, forensic accountant, tax expert or entrepreneur. The courses required to earn a degree in Accounting include Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Intermediate Accounting I and II, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Accounting Information Systems, Taxation, and Advanced Accounting. These classes can teach you how to translate the happenings of a business into financial language, which can help to conduct decision making within the business.

For outside thinkers and innovators, the Entrepreneur Concentration is a fantastic option. The classes required to complete the Entrepreneurship Concentration include Starting a New Venture, Corporate Entrepreneurship, Managing Innovation, and Finance for Emerging Business Enterprises. These classes are meant to teach students how to develop management skills to launch a new business, develop an understanding of innovation and the financial aspects of starting a business and to assist students in identifying themselves as an entrepreneur.

If you are interested in working in an area that is at the center of operations for all companies and want to move quickly into a position with decision-making responsibilities then a the Finance Concentration is a good option for you. The classes required include Management Calculus, Financial and Managerial Accounting, Macroeconomics, Statistics and Marketing Principles, Business Finance, Operations Management, Management Information Systems, Organizational behavior, and Capital Planning. These classes will help you gain the skills to analyze capital budgeting problems, assess investment opportunities for institutes and individuals, develop and understanding of techniques needed to finance corporate operations and expansions and to gain the ability to communicate financial concepts to other people.

For students who prefer to travel often and to work with other countries and cultures in business, the International Business Concentration offers a broad range of skills to use those interests professionally. Its coursework helps students become aware of management concepts, systems and practices in different countries. It also helps students understand cultural dynamics, economics and political constraints that affect the marketing and sales aspect of international business. The Concentration’s coursework teaches students how to assess and evaluate the financial risks associated with multi-national firms, addresses global sourcing strategies and helps students learn more about the role that information technology and Enterprise Resource Planning plays in managing global supply chains.

I will write about the other four business concentrations, Management, Management Information Systems, Marketing and Supply Chain and Operations Management, in my next blog! If you have any other questions, specifically regarding coursework or dual concentration, you can find information on the UML website (http://www.uml.edu/MSB/Program-of-study/default.aspx), at the Centers for Learning (http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/UML-Centers-for-Learning/10875253430), and keep up with campus events and outreach programs that can teach you even more about the Manning School of Business (http://www.uml.edu/MSB/Events-Awards/Events.aspx).

What is YOUR business? Do you tutor your friends in math when you have the time? Are you really good at making earrings? Do you enjoy fixing bikes? The Manning School of Business wants to know what it is that constitutes your business.

Your business does not need to be one of which you make any profit, but one from which you share knowledge that you have with others around you. That is the beginning of all businesses. All you need to start is a skill that you have honed and that you are capable of and willing to sharing with others. The next step is technically receiving something in return for your services. Regularly, this is compensation such as money. In your business that you share with us, though, you do not need to receive money for your work; gratitude is good enough!

The classes provided by the Manning School of Business are meant to prepare its students to participate in the business world. Every student is in a different part of the process of earning their degree in business and it is important that we share our current work with one another while we do so. Sharing your current adventures and work is the first step of recognizing your current abilities. In doing so, you can share with others your present ways of making a business. Sharing helps everyone learn how to use their own abilities as well as the skills they are learning in classes to create their future business or to be a part of one in the future.

To share with fellow Manning School of Business students, staff, alumni and friends, take pictures of you doing what it is that YOU enjoy doing with your spare time and that you would consider to be YOUR business! Like the Manning School of Business Facebook page and inbox the page your pictures and a description of your business. There, your picture will appear and be shared with Manning School of Business students, faculty, alumni and friends.

Sharing your work can help Manning School of Business staff and members adjust its classes and assistance to help you in your business creation and work. It can also help you advertise your business to other students and provide a place for you to find fellow classmates who share your interests. Sharing with us can only help you and your business!