Business Synthesis

When deciding to pursue a degree in business, there are many aspects that must be considered. The business sector has a plethora of different avenues to begin a career path. Each field has contrasts along with similar characteristics that are important to take into consideration when choosing a field in business. In this blog more specifically, the fields of accounting, economics, international business, and supply chain are examined.

Accounting is an important aspect to take into consideration in every business. It consists of keeping track of financial transactions and has many principles and assumptions that have to be followed. You can learn more about the basics of accounting here. Accounting is used to analyze a business or individual's financial standing and can help them make future decisions, such as buying a car or buying a house. There are many principles and assumptions that need to be followed. You can find a list of the principles here. Most of the tasks consist of simple arithmetic. The accountant has to locate the correct numbers and plug them precisely into the equation. It is important for everyone to understand this language so accountants can explain the situation to people in higher positions, such as management. Management can then take that information and decide what would be the best thing to do for the company. You can find more of this here. Similar to accounting, but with unique aspects, is supply chain management.

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Supply chain management is about managing and watching the flow of inventory, finances, and information. The supply chain sector is all about efficiency. The main idea of supply chain management is to make business as efficient and profitable as possible. For example, individuals in this field would look at the cost of production, supply, demand, transportation, and overall inventory. Taking these into account, they would be able to analyze and establish methods to improve the company’s performance within production. In comparison to other business-related careers, analyzing and recording data is very prevalent in most of these fields. Although they may be similar in this regard, they are separated by the type of data that is being recorded. Accountants may focus more on the income perspective, while the supply chain sector focuses on inventory, costs, and supply and demand. Those involved in the supply chain field are more likely to require negotiation skills, while on the other hand accountants will need more interpersonal skills to relate to their customers on more of a personal level, to learn more about the skills required for this career path, go here. Every line of work has some sort of jargon. Supply chain management has acronyms such as EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization), and ROIC (return on invested capital). EBITDA is used to determine the profitability between two companies, you can find more info here. Amortization, typically a word found in accounting is essentially the repayment of an intangible asset over time. Along with supply chain management comes economics.

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Economics has many ideas all coming together. There are also multiple factors that make up economics such as, forecasting or price determination. More about the factors of economics can be found in Economics’ Place in Business. Basically, choices must be made while weighing the costs and benefits of the options. Ideas must be shared with enough detail to interpret the meaning without explaining every piece of information. Since economics is focused around decision-making, it is necessary to be able to communicate with others. Making predictions and uncovering patterns/trends is the bulk of what economists do in their position. To learn more about skills an economist needs can be found in Skills of An Economist. The language of economics is one of the most distinct languages in the field of business. Terms such as supply and demand, elasticity, and consumer surplus are all used to describe products. An economist is always using these words and phrases, but when speaking to people unfamiliar with the vocabulary, a description in layman's terms should be considered for an easier discussion. Another factor of economics is competing with other countries.

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To compete with other countries’ emerging economies, business men and women must have the correct strategies and tactics of how to do business in foreign countries. Any company that is international is constantly trying to build relationships and generate business and International Business majors do exactly that. The auto industry is a notable example of companies that hire students with international business degrees. Companies like Ford, GM, and Chrysler all conduct business all over the world and they need people who are well versed in how to conduct business with other cultures. Rigorous amounts of traveling and communication between different branches of a business are required. Being well informed about the latest trends in your field are also very necessary. Constantly checking in on clients or business partners help build good relationships. Depending on what field, there is plenty of industry specific terminology that is used every day. English is recognized as the international language of business but knowing more than one is very beneficial to building strong relationships with clients in different countries.

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For a degree in any of these fields, there are basic classes that everyone will take:

Accounting Accounting Info Systems, auditing, Computer Info Systems, Cost Accounting, Economics, Finance, Government Accounting, and Management.	Supply Chain Economics, Business, Statistics
Economics Economics, Economic Theory, Statistics, Public Finance, Government and Industry, Banking, Economic Development, International Economics	International Business International Law and Business, International and Comparative Dimensions of Business, International Trade/Finance

There are many factors that make up the business world. These four majors represent the most important fields of business that are highly regarded. Each of these fields fall under the category of business, but are unique to each other and important in their own ways.

Katie Howard - Accounting
Chandler Maples - Supply chain management
Colin Bergman - Economics
Carson Breault - International Business