Trending Business Management Courses in 2020s
Many a wise person has said it — the only thing more expensive than education is ignorance. This is even truer when we’re talking about business. Having blind spots in your knowledge and understanding of running a business, dealing with people and spotting trends will derail your business management career in a hurry. So learning to fill those knowledge gaps can be invaluable. With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most relevant courses in business management for the decade ahead. Some might surprise you.
International Management
As the global economy looms larger and larger, there’s no such thing as being a manager without some experience with the ways in which other cultures conduct business. Whether it’s buying raw products from Mexico, working with foreign companies or just expanding your sales abroad, a course in international management is essential. These courses teach you how to navigate a wide range of elements when it comes to international business including politics, legalities, monetary differences, trade environments and cultures.
Psychology
Courses in psychology are becoming more and more integral to business management degree programs. They work in two ways.
One, they help you understand the feelings, motivations, personalities and social influences of your employees and coworkers. The importance of this can’t be overestimated — lots of offices are dysfunctional (and end of failing) because employees lack the emotional intelligence to work together effectively.
Additionally, psychology courses can help business managers understand their clients’ and customers’ behaviors. Indeed, customers often say one thing and do another. Knowing what drives them can mean the difference between growth and stagnation.
Social Media/Digital Marketing
There are more tools than ever to reach customers these days, but you’ve got to know where to find them and how to utilize them. Yesterday it was MySpace, Facebook and Foursquare. Today it’s Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram. Tomorrow it will be something new. Staying on top of these trends and taking advantage of them before anyone else can help you carve out a niche as a business manager and that’s what social media and digital marketing classes preach. You’ll learn to plan and deploy effective campaigns, analyze what’s working (and what isn’t) and develop sustainable strategies for building your brand and relationships with consumers.
Financial Accounting
Many of us are guilty of putting the cart before the horse. It’s great to have pie-in-the-sky managerial theories, entrepreneurial ideas that are going to change the world and products that sell but we need to master the basics, too. At some point, you’re going to have to do some grunt work. That’s where courses like financial accounting, budgeting and bookkeeping come in. They’re designed to give students the foundational knowledge they need to tackle the fundamental aspects of managing finances within a business. That might mean understanding basic accounting software, knowing how to build a spreadsheet and producing fiscal reports. Boring? To most. Essential? You bet.
Leadership Development
As a business manager, you’ll go as far as your people. And your people will go as far as you lead them. This is where many fail; they interpret leadership to mean being tough, being a friend or being hands-off. Leadership is much more complex than this and involves no small amount of skill. Hire a top tier leadership development company to sharpen leadership skills at your organization. Courses in leadership development dive into topics like leadership theories, the impacts of leadership styles, techniques for building a team and philosophies of corporate culture.
Remote Work Management
Business managers in today’s workforce need to understand how to manage people who work from home, on the road or simply live on the other side of the globe. These cutting-edge courses show you how to conduct virtual meetings, build off-site employee trust, tracking remote performance and dealing with “office” politics.
