ECE 601: Business for Engineers

Home : Courses :
ECE 601 - Business for Engineers

WWW Resources

Timetable Information

Catalog Description
601 Business for Engineers

Course Prerequisite(s)

See catalog description above.

Textbook(s) and/or other required material

Core Concepts of Accounting/8e, Robert Anthony and Leslie Breitner, Pearson Prentice-Hall, ISBN 0-13-040671-6, [available @ University Bookstore] plus additional notes including cases from Harvard Business Review
Course objectives

Business for Engineers is designed to introduce students who have a quantitative background to the issues of decision-making in business.
Business is conducted in a complex, multi-dimensional, rapidly changing and distinctly less quantitative and more uncertain environment than is typical of the problem-solving orientation of engineering. Every engineer, however, should be exposed to basic business concepts, and many are well qualified to take positions of management responsibility within established firms, or even to be entrepreneurs.
The primary goal of this course is to enable students to develop within themselves the tools for making decisions in business.
Because the business world is complex and because it draws on many facets of a decision-maker�s resources and personality, Business for Engineers is taught through the Case Method, often using guest speakers to illuminate the subtleties of different stories. Students work in groups, reading and preparing for detailed in-class discussions of cases that highlight critical issues in the life of a business, such as the introduction of a new product or the competitive risks of entering a new market. Unlike most engineering courses in which the instructor imparts factual material to a largely passive audience, Business for Engineers depends and is graded on class participation, discussion and even debate.
Since the primary objective of business is to add value to a product or service in exchange for money, the language of accounting is the means by which business decisions must be validated: business decisions must make financial sense. Throughout the course, students will complete a well-respected workbook on financial accounting using �Review of Essentials of Accounting, 8/e,� by Robert N. Anthony and Leslie Pearlman. The goal of this review is to move quickly, capitalizing on the quantitative abilities of the engineering student, while enabling one to read and understand a financial statement, balance sheet, or annual report.
While many of the topics covered in Business for Engineers apply to all businesses, the emphasis will be on high technology and biotechnology enterprises, rapidly growing and changing companies and environments in which decision making becomes the key to success.

Topics covered

Strategy: its role in decision making at the corporate level
New product development
Financial accounting and control
Marketing, sales, distribution, service, branding
Manufacturing, quality
Leadership, management skills, behavior in organizations, human capital
Entrepreneurship and business planning

Class/laboratory schedule

Tuesdays, 4-6:30 PM, Tong Auditorium (1003 ECB)

Relationship of course to undergraduate degree program objectives and outcomes
This course serves students in a variety of engineering majors. The information below describes how the course contributes to the college's educational objectives.

To understand a managerial perspective, i.e. to take in not only the engineering and product-focused aspects but also the market, financial, and organizational aspects of business decisions (example: as an engineer you may want to design and build the most elegant product possible, but the market may not justify the resources needed to do this)
To understand the range of managerial skills to plan, analyze and implement strategies (high-level) and tactics (day-to-day) in the enterprise
To develop an analytical framework and toolset for effective decision making and recommending plans of action in a business environment
To be aware when engineering and management objectives differ, especially when there are ethical concerns

Person(s) who prepared this description

Daniel van der Weide
Catalog Description: 601 Business for Engineers
Course Prerequisite(s)

See catalog description above.
Textbook(s) and/or other required material: Core Concepts of Accounting/8e, Robert Anthony and Leslie Breitner, Pearson Prentice-Hall, ISBN 0-13-040671-6, [available @ University Bookstore] plus additional notes including cases from Harvard Business Review
Course objectives

Business for Engineers is designed to introduce students who have a quantitative background to the issues of decision-making in business.
Business is conducted in a complex, multi-dimensional, rapidly changing and distinctly less quantitative and more uncertain environment than is typical of the problem-solving orientation of engineering. Every engineer, however, should be exposed to basic business concepts, and many are well qualified to take positions of management responsibility within established firms, or even to be entrepreneurs.
The primary goal of this course is to enable students to develop within themselves the tools for making decisions in business.
Because the business world is complex and because it draws on many facets of a decision-maker�s resources and personality, Business for Engineers is taught through the Case Method, often using guest speakers to illuminate the subtleties of different stories. Students work in groups, reading and preparing for detailed in-class discussions of cases that highlight critical issues in the life of a business, such as the introduction of a new product or the competitive risks of entering a new market. Unlike most engineering courses in which the instructor imparts factual material to a largely passive audience, Business for Engineers depends and is graded on class participation, discussion and even debate.
Since the primary objective of business is to add value to a product or service in exchange for money, the language of accounting is the means by which business decisions must be validated: business decisions must make financial sense. Throughout the course, students will complete a well-respected workbook on financial accounting using �Review of Essentials of Accounting, 8/e,� by Robert N. Anthony and Leslie Pearlman. The goal of this review is to move quickly, capitalizing on the quantitative abilities of the engineering student, while enabling one to read and understand a financial statement, balance sheet, or annual report.
While many of the topics covered in Business for Engineers apply to all businesses, the emphasis will be on high technology and biotechnology enterprises, rapidly growing and changing companies and environments in which decision making becomes the key to success.
Topics covered

Strategy: its role in decision making at the corporate level
New product development
Financial accounting and control
Marketing, sales, distribution, service, branding
Manufacturing, quality
Leadership, management skills, behavior in organizations, human capital
Entrepreneurship and business planning
Class/laboratory schedule

Tuesdays, 4-6:30 PM, Tong Auditorium (1003 ECB)
Relationship of course to undergraduate degree program objectives and outcomes: This course serves students in a variety of engineering majors. The information below describes how the course contributes to the college's educational objectives.
To understand a managerial perspective, i.e. to take in not only the engineering and product-focused aspects but also the market, financial, and organizational aspects of business decisions (example: as an engineer you may want to design and build the most elegant product possible, but the market may not justify the resources needed to do this) To understand the range of managerial skills to plan, analyze and implement strategies (high-level) and tactics (day-to-day) in the enterprise To develop an analytical framework and toolset for effective decision making and recommending plans of action in a business environment To be aware when engineering and management objectives differ, especially when there are ethical concerns
Person(s) who prepared this description

Daniel van der Weide

Copyright 2007 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Date last modified: 18-Jul-2007
Content by: ece@engr.wisc.edu
Accessibility

Web services
UW-Madison : COE : ECE : ECE Site Map