Division of Social Sciences
Department of Business Management

We view business as the active liberal art, with ethics and social responsibility central to corporate success.  Our graduates make positive impacts in the worlds they enter as leaders in traditional business venues such as the worlds of finance, accounting, entrepreneurship, marketing, international business and in other organizational contexts such as the worlds of government, law, and non-profit organizations - reflecting Washington College values of critical thinking, effective communication, and moral courage. The diversity of our talented faculty of teacher-scholars and practitioners echo the global nature of business.

Learning in the classroom is only the beginning. Rigorous classes ready you to participate in a wide range of real-world experiences and settings, including an award-winning student-managed investment fund program with a $1.5M+ portfolio, internships, our summer study abroad program, student-designed experiential projects, faculty-student research, and more.  And there’s funding available to help you achieve your goals.  

Our major can be combined with any other major or minor offered at Washington College. In fact, at Washington College, Business Management majors can not only aspire to Sigma Beta Delta, the International Business Honor Society, they can also aspire to Phi Beta Kappa, the pre-eminent honor society for students pursuing a liberal education.

Business Management at Washington College - transforming students into leaders to create better worlds.

Business Management Major Requirements

The Business Management major consists of two economics introductory courses, eight 4-credit required courses, one 4-credit elective course at the 200-level or above, a Global Learning requirement, and the Senior Capstone Experience. All of the courses listed below (except for BUS SCE and  BUS 401 Strategic Management) may be taken at our study-abroad partners.

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Economics Courses		8
ECN 111	Principles of Macroeconomics
ECN 112	Principles of Microeconomics
Core Business Courses		32
BUS 109	Managerial Statistics
or ECN 215	Data Analysis I
or MAT 109	Statistical Inference & Data Analysis I
or PSY 209	Statistics & Research Design I with Lab
BUS 111	Principles of Marketing
BUS 112	Intro to Financial Accounting
BUS 209	Financial Analysis
BUS 210	Management Information Systems
BUS 302	Organizational Behavior
BUS 401	Strategic Management (counts for W3; must be taken at Washington College)
Additional BUS Course 200, 300 or 400 Level
Select 1 Course From Below		4
BUS 303	Legal Environment of Business
BUS 360	Corporate Social Responsibility
PHL 102	Contemporary Moral Issues
PHL 225	Ethical Theory
PHL 235	Foundations of Morality
PHL 300	Business Ethics
PHL 303	Environmental Ethics
PHL 325	Biomedical Ethics
Global learning requirement (see details below)		0-8
Senior Capstone Experience		2-4
Total Credits		46-56

Global Learning Requirement

The purpose of the Global Learning requirement is to foster an understanding of the importance of the global context of contemporary business. This critical thinking skill requires students to add another layer of perspective to their analyses of problems by recognizing the need for knowledge of political, legal, economic, social, technical, environmental, and cultural factors that shape how business is conducted around the world.

This requirement may be fulfilled in one of three ways:

1. participating in a full-semester or short study abroad program (including the Chesapeake Semester);
2. studying a foreign language through the 202-level; or
3. taking two global-focus courses. For this last option, one course must be a Business Management course (BUS 310 International Business, BUS 311 Global Business Strategy, BUS 352 International Marketing, BUS 356 Multinational Financial Management, or an approved special topic course). The other course must be offered by a department other than Business Management included in an approved list published on the department’s website. International students are exempt from this requirement.

The Business Management Department encourages all students to consider studying abroad. Study abroad provides first-hand experience with other ways of life — students gain a deeper understanding of how culture affects markets, firms, and strategy, offering them a new perspective on their native culture, which challenges them and stimulates their creativity and critical thinking.

Below are Study Abroad partner business programs (all taught in English):

Royal Holloway, University of London (England)
American Business School Paris (France)
Bond University (Gold Coast, Australia)
Lingnan University (Hong Kong, China)
Al Akhawayn University (Ifrane, Morocco)
Meiji Gakuin University (Yokohama, Japan)
Bogazici University (Istanbul, Turkey)
University College Cork (Cork, Ireland)

Including those listed above, there are a total of 30 semester-long study abroad programs available; only four do not offer business or management classes for their international students (contact the Global Education Office). Students interested in study abroad should share this with their academic advisors and visit  the Global Education Office at their earliest convenience. Junior year is typically the best time to include a semester or two abroad.

Minors and Interdisciplinary Connections

To gain more depth in specific areas of business, Business Management majors may add one or more of the following minors: Accounting, Entrepreneurship, Finance, International Business, or Marketing.