Business Administration

Degree Type Bachelor of Science
Department Business Administration
Academic Division The Williams School
Offerings Major
Business administration is one of the most popular majors at W&L. We offer small classes (usually 16 to 22 students) that are innovative and experiential. Our professors maintain open-door policies and are regularly available to students outside of class. Quality teaching is unquestionably our highest priority.

Why Study Business Administration at W&L?

Business at W&L engages students in the multiple aspects of business administration and how it relates to the broader social and cultural aspects of society and the world. 

Typical areas of interest are in the financial industry (such as banking, investments, Wall Street and real estate development), marketing (advertising and branding), entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility, environmental sustainability and business consulting. Business Administration students engage in case studies focusing on many aspects of business (finance, marketing, organizational behavior, leadership, strategic management, law and ethics). They have the opportunity to critically analyze real companies in current situations and make recommendations.

Related Programs

The J. Lawrence Connolly Center for Entrepreneurship is an interdisciplinary center intended to help students from across campus learn how to turn their creative ideas into successful business ventures. 

 

The Shepherd Program for the Interdisciplinary Study of Poverty and Human Capability integrates thought and action in direct service to disadvantaged communities. Through an array of courses and service opportunities, the program prepares students from a variety of majors and political perspectives to work with those communities to address the problems associated with poverty.

The Roger Mudd Center for Ethics advances dialogue, teaching and research about issues of public and professional ethics across all three of the university's schools - the College, the Williams School, and the School of Law. It was established in 2010 through a gift to the university from award-winning journalist Roger Mudd '50.

The Environmental Studies Program is designed to educate students in a broad class of issues related to the environment and humanity's place in the natural world. 

"The professors really challenge your critical thinking skills besides the technical skills, which is great exercise for any job out of college. Most of the problems in business administration do not have right answers, and I enjoy the process of analyzing the problems, finding the best solutions and supporting my decisions with evidence."

Joe WenClass of 2019

Sandy Reiter

Department Head
P: 540-458-8223
E: reiters@wlu.edu

Joy Swartz

Administrative Assistant
P: 540-458-5808
E: jwswartz@wlu.edu

Sample Courses

Courses emphasize communication, business theory and practice, connections between business and other fields, and serving society with vision and integrity.
BUS 360

The Business of Entertainment

Entertainment franchises are big business that pervade our consumer culture. This course challenges students to evaluate the various practices used to "frame" such creative entertainment franchise properties. Students study a variety of global franchises, such as Peanuts, Star Wars or Disney lines, analyzing key issues involved in creative product development. These issues include framing, fidelity and audience management, as well as practical processes like the role of development gatekeepers and product licensing structures. The course includes a one-week trip to Los Angeles to meet with entertainment industry executives at studio and key franchise locations.

BUS 353

Real Estate Development

Studying the development of commercial real estate, the course covers a range of topics from the idea stage until the property is eventually sold after completion. Although much of the course is qualitative in nature, students also learn how to create simple financial models to analyze properties. In addition, students study in some depth the real estate crisis that began in late 2007. Through exploration of case studies and interaction with practitioners (guest speakers), emphasis is placed on application rather than theory.

BUS 383

Technology & Entrepreneurship

The purpose of this course is to provide students with an understanding of process through which technological inventions are transformed into innovations. Key works from scholars in the field will guide class discussions on understanding why managing innovation is complex, cross-functional, and a historically dependent endeavor. By the end of the class, students will have an appreciation for the entrepreneurial mindset, key actors in the start-up process, and the means through which technology is commercialized. In addition to these discussions, students will travel to Silicon Valley to not only meet individuals who are a part of the recent start-up/technology scene, but also visit key locations that capture the history and context of innovation in the San Francisco Bay Area.

BUS 370

Integrated Marketing Communications

Nature and contributions of the elements of marketing communications (e.g., advertising, sales promotions, the Web) in creating brand equity and stimulating demand. A project-oriented course with an emphasis on the strategic application of concepts resulting in an integrated communication plan for products and/or services. Course has a complementary lab component to teach technical skills and reinforce concepts via practicum.

BUS 392

Layered Berlin

A four-week course taught abroad that offers students a true immersion in German language, culture and business environment. In order to give students a complete understanding of contemporary Germany, we integrate a literary-historical analysis of the country's rich history from 1848 to the present day with an introduction to German social and economic systems that focuses on stakeholder-centric business and sustainability principles. Through an exciting mix of literary fiction, historical readings and cases, and film screenings, along with corporate and cultural site visits, students gain an understanding of the interdependence between "big C" Culture and business culture.

BUS 337

Economic Globalization & Multinational Corporations

This course focuses on the historical and present effects and issues of economic globalization, and the role of multinational corporations in a global economy. Topics covered may include: production, supply chain, technology, trade, finance, natural environment, labor, development, poverty and inequality, privatization of utilities, immigration and state sovereignty. Emphasis is on understanding the costs and benefits of economic globalization and the role business plays in contributing to these outcomes.

W&L

After
Business administration majors can look forward to careers in investment banking, marketing, consulting, finance, retailing and manufacturing. A number of alumni enter MBA programs at the finest schools in the country.

Meet Our Faculty

At W&L, students enjoy small classes and close relationships with professors who educate and nurture.
Sandy Reiter Darrold and Kay Cannan Associate Term Professor of Business Administration and Head of the Business Administration Department
Reiter teaches Business Ethics and Economic Globalization. She has most recently been investigating the question of whether corporations themselves can bear a kind of moral responsibility that is different from that held by corporate actors. Previously, she had an extensive career in the aerospace industry.
Robert M. Ballenger Professor of Business Administration
Ballenger is a 1976 W&L alumnus who teaches courses in accounting information systems, data analytics and multimedia design. He previously worked for Unisys Corporation and served as the executive vice president of ServNET Technologies.
Aliaa Bassiouny Lawrence Associate Term Professor of Business Administration
Bassiouny’s teaching portfolio includes courses in managerial finance, investments, portfolio management, international finance, valuation and financial modeling. Her research interests include investments and empirical market microstructure with a focus on emerging markets.
Nathan Bowden Visiting Assistant Professor of Business Administration
Nathan Bowden is an attorney, educator and consultant whose primary research interests involve how we regulate financial institutions and other businesses that offer products and services to consumers.
Amanda Bower Charles C. Holbrook, Jr. '72 Professor of Business Administration
Bower teaches courses in marketing management and creative strategic planning. She has studied the relationship between the liberal arts and a business environment, which gives her courses an interdisciplinary aspect.
Gavin Fox Associate Professor of Business Administration
Fox teaches marketing and works extensively with the entrepreneurship faculty. His background is in supply chain management and he served a tour in Iraq as a quartermaster First Lieutenant in 2004. He researches viral marketing.
Faculty Q&A
Dennis Garvis Professor of Business Administration
Garvis teaches courses in applied statistics as well as business management. He has researched effective teaching and learning, corporate governance, and entrepreneurial collaborations.
Elisabeth Gilbert Assistant Professor of Business Administration
Gilbert teaches courses in the area of organizational behavior. Her research focuses on how people can improve their experiences at work, including such topics as voice, employee well-being and constructive deviance in organizations.
Andrew Hess Associate Professor of Business Administration
Hess is a 1997 alum who researches and teaches in areas of social innovation, strategy and international business. Before returning to W&L, he worked for Fleet National Bank and Silicon Valley Bank in Boston.
Scott Hoover A. Stevens Miles Professor of Banking and Finance
Hoover teaches courses in corporate finance and real estate, and his research relates to corporate social responsibility. He previously founded and managed a software company devoted to customized database software.
Marc Junkunc Associate Professor of Business Administration
Junkunc teaches courses related to entrepreneurship. He has served as a CEO, investor, and board director. He started his first company as an MBA student, made it profitable, and sold it. His research relates to innovation.
George Kester Mamie Fox Twyman Professor of Business Administration
Kester teaches managerial finance and case courses in corporate finance. He was previously on the faculty of Bucknell University. His research interests focus on applied corporate finance and financial education.
Keri M. Larson Assistant Professor of Business Administration
Larson teaches courses that help students learn to understand and use data in areas of management. She has researched the analytics of unstructured textual data to support organizational decision making.
Stephen Lind Assistant Professor of Business Administration
Lind leads the Williams School’s oral communication initiative. He teaches courses such as Business Writing and Digital Video Creation. Previously, Lind competed nationally on the policy debate circuit.
Jeffrey Schatten Assistant Professor of Business Administration
Professor Schatten teaches courses on organizational behavior, leadership and decision making, as well as a unique class composed of students and inmates and taught at a minimum-security prison near Lexington.
Website
Jeffrey P. Shay Rupert H. Johnson, Jr. Professor of Entrepreneurship and Leadership
Shay teaches courses in entrepreneurship, leadership and strategic management. He leads the entrepreneurship program that now includes the Venture Club, the Entrepreneurship Summit, and the Entrepreneurship Internship Program.
Robert D. Straughan Crawford Family Dean of the Williams School and Professor of Business Administration
Straughan teaches International Marketing Strategy and Sustainable Business. He has authored dozens of studies on sustainable business and cross-cultural business. He works closely with students with career interests in consulting.
Julie Youngman Assistant Professor of Business Administration and Professor of Practice
Youngman teaches both undergraduates and law students. She practiced law for 20 years and was a senior attorney at a public interest law firm in North Carolina, where her work focused on natural resource and water protection.

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