Majors

This summer in Executive Management, we have learned a lot about business. Starting with entrepreneurship, we explored the world of entrepreneurs in a marketplace. We covered the Four Functions of a business: production, marketing, finance, and management. We also learned that the government plays four distinct roles in the economy: as a regulator, to provide for the public good, to provide for social progress, and as a redistributor of income. This background of entrepreneurship laid the foundation for our venture into the business enterprise.

To practice these skills in a real-life situation, the class split up into groups and worked with a computer program called JA Titan, which simulates the running of a futuristic business that sells holo-generators. Each of our "companies" started out with a sum of money and had to consider how much of that money we would allocate to each of the various departments within the company, taking into account the competition of the other groups in the marketplace and how that would affect our pricing. In playing the JA Titan game, we became more aware of what it takes to run a business efficiently. Various factors must be taken into consideration to obtain the most market share and the highest production index. Companies must consider the cost of the product and how many products will be made, as well as how much money to put into the areas of marketing, capital investment (i.e. the factory workers' salaries), and research and development. Whichever company allocated its money in the best amount to the various departments held the highest production index.

Additionally, we learned about economics as it pertains to business. This specifically included supply and demand, which can be represented visually on a graph as the supply curve and the demand curve. At a low price, quantity demanded is high, and at a high price, quantity demanded is low. Conversely, quantity supplied is low at a low price and high at a high price. We applied these principles to the results of a survey we created and conducted here at GHP. Upon canvassing random GHP students, we obtained an unbiased result pool. We then graphed the results and compared them to the demand curve. This endeavor advanced our knowledge of the economic fundamentals related to business and executive management.

In learning about outsourcing, we split up into groups of two or three and researched and obtained information and statistics to give in a presentation before a panel of judges. We prepared to argue for either the positive or negative aspects of outsourcing. The best two teams went on to compete at a higher level before different judges for the grand prize. Following that presentation, we investigated different business journals for articles that exemplified a certain quality in business that our group was interested in (product diversity, business ethics, etc.). We presented these articles to the class. Both presentation opportunities gave us a chance to hone our public speaking and presentation skills, and we learned in the process.

The culminating projects for this class are our business plans and our company / career projects. For our business plans, we have chosen a company to start and have considered all of the aspects needed for it to be successful, including marketing, finances, and production. The business plans contain projections for future years when our companies will break even and start to make a profit. They are also the medium through which we can apply for a loan at a bank. Our other project gives the option of researching a Georgia based company or a career path of our choice.

Overall, Executive Management at GHP has been an unforgettable experience. We have laughed and argued, discussed pricing and operating procedures, and gained insight into the world of business. We can take the valuable lessons learned here and apply them to our lives in future business applications. In this way, we will always remember our GHP experiences and grow as professional leaders in the future.

Chris Holmes