Leader,
changemaker,
big picture thinker

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Social Innovation, Sustainability,Systems Change, Crypto, FinTech, - whatever your passions, bring your vision of the future to life with Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E). Cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset and make yourself invaluable to employers, society and yourself in an increasingly uncertain future. The entrepreneurial mindset helps you build resilience, creativity, confidence and adaptability to create your own opportunities in business and society, innovate in existing organizations, and thrive in a rapidly changing world. The hands-on, practical nature of I&E courses and our world class system of entrepreneurial support means you'll leave with experiences, skills and networks that set you apart in the job market. Courses like foundations of innovation, resourcing new ventures, managing emerging opportunities and sustainable innovation allow you to build your mindset, skillset and experience, leading to the concentration capstone, Startup Experience, which allows you to start your own venture and provides a pathway to entrepreneurship Co-op (eCo-op), where you get paid to develop your venture further and bring your solution to market and impact.

Career Outcomes

Graduates from the I&E concentration are now driving change through their own companies, in tech giants, government and not-for-profits, and are sought after in whatever field needs creative and entrepreneurial thinking: all of them.

Common Career Paths

Innovation and Product management – Lead the creation of innovative products and intiatives in existing companies as the internal voice of the customer, accelerating from adaptive employee to innovative C-suite leader.

Entrepreneur – Create your own opportunities as a founder or become a core part of a startup in an area you’re passionate about. Recent successes include Zennea, Moment, Glow Within and Utopia Labs.

Change management – Apply your understanding of how to address systemic challenges by making a difference through not-for-profits and in industries such as healthcare, education and policy.

Work Companies of Recent Graduates

Recent graduates work for companies such as Viser, Traction on Deman, Fraser Health, Employ to Empower, Centric Software, LuluLemon, Telus.

Recent Graduates started companies such as Utopia Labs, Zennea Technologies, Better Bears, Glow Within, Employ to Empower, Streamline Athletics, and more.

For detailed information on the required courses in this concentration, consult the SFU Calendar.

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Finance

The financial services sector is a significant component of the BC and Canadian economy and is a future growth industry. Learn about securities and their markets, investment portfolios, and long-term investment in real assets and more, in the context of both personal and corporate financial decision-making.

Courses include Corporate Finance, Real Estate Investments, Security Analysis, Financial Management and more.

Career Outcomes

Students who successfully complete the Finance concentration are prepared to work in entry level positions in banks, investment firms, financial departments of public or private organizations, and insurance industry.

Common Career Paths

Retail Banking - Positions typically fall into three categories – transactional, advisory, and management or supervisory.

Corporate and Investment Banking - These roles are primarily concentrated at or near the head offices of large banks or in specialized sectors of the economy.

Roles range from heavily client focused (investment banking) to research-oriented (equity research) and may also be transactional in nature (trading, operations).

Insurance - Jobs in insurance involve helping individuals and businesses manage risk to protect themselves.

Work Companies of Recent Graduates

Financial Firms and Credit Unions - RBC, BMO, TD, CIBC, Scotiabank, Vancity, Coast Capital Savings.

Investment Firms - RBC PH&N Investment Counsel, Connor, Clark & Lunn.

Government owned/affiliated - Export Development Canada, Canada Revenue Agency.

For detailed information on the required courses in this concentration, consult the SFU Calendar.

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Human Resource Management

The Human Resource Management (HRM) introductory courses help students in all business fields to understand, predict, and manage behavior in organizations. Choose to take courses focused on two professional career streams: the Personnel Specialist option covers recruitment, training, negotiation skills and performance management while the Managing People option includes design of employment systems, change and organizational leadership.

Career Outcomes

Students who successfully complete the Human Resources Management concentration are prepared to take on strategic and comprehensive approaches to managing people, the culture and environment within an organization. This function deals with recruitment and selection, compensation, performance management, organization development and training, and organizational health and safety.

Common Career Paths

Recruitment - Work with Hiring Managers to define employment needs.

Compensation & Benefits - Study and classify positions to determine salaries, wages, incentives, and benefits. Manage the system of pay grades to ensure compensation is calculated fairly across departments.

Labour Relations - Work for union or management and deal with managing these relations.

Generalist - Act as the interface between departments or groups of employees and the HR team or manage administration of HR policies, procedures, and programs.

Work Companies of Recent Graduates

Aritzia, BC Hydro, Chevron, Deloitte, Ledcor, Mercer, Teck Resources, Trulioo.

For detailed information on the required courses in this concentration, consult the SFU Calendar.

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International Business

Focus on business activities that cross national and international borders, looking at the structures, systems, and processes to ensure success in the international arena.

Courses include Global Business Environment, International Financial Management, Foreign Market Entry, Global Marketing Management, and more.

Career Outcomes

Students who successfully complete the International Business concentration can focus their expertise in three main areas: (1) working for an organization that is international in scope (e.g. United Nations), (2) working for an organization that deals with clients all around the world (e.g. Procter & Gamble), and/or (3) working abroad in another country.

Common Career Paths

Export/Import Manager - Make arrangements for and oversee import and export of goods across international borders.

Immigration Specialist - Work in sectors such as law, social work, public service or business to help immigrants integrate into the local customs and culture.

Purchasing Managers - Buy a vast array of durable and nondurable goods or services for companies and institutions.

International Relations - In general, one will work for the government or in universities specializing in:

• Researching and advising on international policy
• Promoting national industries to foreign partners
• Immigration
• Consular affairs

Work Companies of Recent Graduates

Best Buy, ICBC, CIBT Education Group Inc., Gloria English School, International Care Ministries, Opera Mediaworks, Seaspan, TD Bank, Toyota Inc.

For detailed information on the required courses in this concentration, consult the SFU Calendar.

Learn how to plan this concentration.

Management Information Systems

Management Information Systems (MIS) applies our understanding of business processes and business strategy to creating value from digital technologies. MIS focuses on understanding how digital technologies can make organizations more agile, effective, and efficient, can disrupt traditional industries, and create positive societal change. This is an excellent concentration if you are interested in business analysis, managing change through projects, and software system implementation.

Courses include Project Management, Business Analytics, Business Systems Development, and more.

Career Outcomes

Students who successfully complete the Management Information Systems concentration are prepared to help people interact, use and capitalize on technology and information in a way that makes them more productive.

Common Career Paths

Systems Support - Support either employees or clients to use technology within any business.

Product Quality Assurance - Support the process of new product development by:

Business Systems Analyst - Analyze business needs and recommend information systems or software to meet those needs by serving as a bridge between technical and business people in organizations.

Project Management - Manage the process and implementation of:

Work Companies of Recent Graduates

Deloitte, Fraser Health, HootSuite Media Inc., iQMetrix, Microsoft, SAP, Paysavvy, TELUS, Vancity Credit, Vision Critical, WorkSafe BC.

For detailed information on the required courses in this concentration, consult the SFU Calendar.

Learn how to plan this concentration.

Marketing

Marketing is about communicating the right message, to the right people, through the right media and offering the right solution that will make them purchase at the first place and come back for more. Marketing requires you to apply cutting-edge psychology findings, economics tools, statistics, machine learning algorithms, and rapidly evolving digital tools in addressing the challenges brought by the increasingly complex world and hypercompetitive marketplaces.

Courses include Consumer Behaviour, Web Analytics, Customer Analytics, Global Marketing Management, Ethical Issues in Marketing, and more.

Career Outcomes

Students who successfully complete the Marketing concentration are prepared to communicating the value of a product or service through analysis of the market, building relationships with customers, establishing strong brands, and developing marketing strategies and plans.

Common Career Paths

Advertising - Work with clients on all aspects of marketing - strategy from concept to execution.

Brand Management - Involves many facets such as:

• Assuming responsibility for a brand or brand family
• Focusing on drawing out the essence of a brand
• Mapping out the competitive landscape
• Identifying market opportunities
• Communicating product benefits

Market Research - Requires information gathering in order to make recommendations about the market for the product and the effectiveness of a campaign.

Promotion and Sales - Create Programs that unite advertising to purchase incentives such as special discounts, samples, and gifts with purchase and rebates.

Work Companies of Recent Graduates

Best Buy, Cossette, Creating Value Inc., Deloitte, G&F Financial, Johnson & Johnson, KPMG, lululemon athletica, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Promosapien, Rethink, SAP, Strutta, TELUS, iData Research

For detailed information on the required courses in this concentration, consult the SFU Calendar.

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Operations Management

Operations Management focuses on the use of quantitative methods in solving management problems. Students encounter a wide variety of quantitative models, study how these methods are formulated and solved, and learn how they are used to help managers attack real problems.

Courses include Decision Analysis in Business, Customer Analytics, Supply Chain Management, and more.

Career Outcomes

Students who successfully complete the Operations Management concentration are prepared to help streamline efficiencies in areas such as logistics, planning, and scheduling in a variety of industries.

Common Career Paths

Operations - Ensure a company operates as efficiently and economically as possible by streamlining operational procedures and policies.

Supply Chain Management - Plans, schedules, and monitors the movement of goods or delivery of services to customers and clients.

Purchasing/Procurement/Inventory Management - Secure the right material, at the right time in the right quantities to ensure the company can do its work. Involves negotiation with suppliers and monitoring inventory of supplies and raw materials.

Project Management - Manage the process and implementation of systems development, maintenance, and implementation of major applications.

Work Companies of Recent Graduates

BC Hydro, BuildDirect, Costco, FortisBC, Golder Associates Ltd., Honeywell, Powerex, TELUS, Trialto Wine Group Ltd., Univar Canada, Walmart Canada.

For detailed information on the required courses in this concentration, consult the SFU Calendar.

Learn how to plan this concentration.

Strategic Analysis

Build strong analytical, critical thinking, and decision-making skills necessary in complex organizational contexts to pursue a career in Strategic Management.

Courses include Business Applications of Game Theory, Critical Thinking Through Business Case Analysis, Strategic Decision Making, and more.

Career Outcomes

Students who successfully complete the Strategic Analysis concentration are prepared to help develop a shared vision of an organization's future along with evaluating, planning, and recommending major steps to be taken by an organization to achieve its vision.

Common Career Paths

Strategic Analysis - Identify the needs of the organization and develop plans to determine and guide the overall direction. Can involve software development and acquisitions, systems development, and process management.

Consulting - Provide expert knowledge to a person or an organization on a particular subject.

Change Management - Ensure that change initiatives meet objectives on time and on budget, and achieve the desired business outcomes. Examples on include change to: Business processes, Systems and technology, Roles within the organization, Organizational structure, and Cultural changes.

Internal Audit - Provide an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organization's operations. Can aid the organization in processes and operations in: Risk Management, Governance, and Internal control processes.

Work Companies of Recent Graduates

Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA), Deloitte, Ernest & Young (EY), Mercer, Traction on Demand, Best Buy, TELUS, BCNet.

For detailed information on the required courses in this concentration, consult the SFU Calendar.

Learn how to plan this concentration.