Pick & Plan Your Concentration - SFU Beedie School of Business

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Academic Advising

Plan Your Concentration

Students completing the Bachelor of Business Administration Degree with a Major in Business Administration must declare and complete a concentration as part of the degree requirements. Students are encouraged to learn about the different concentration options, requirements, and career prospects prior to declaring. Hands-on experience through business courses, engagement with student organizations, or work experience like co-op, may open your eyes to possibilities and careers you’d never considered. Once you have decided, the resources on this page can help guide you as navigate through the selected concentration.

Plan your concentration

Focuses on preparing, analyzing, and verifying financial documents for clients or internal use. This function ensures that financial records are accurate, along with identifying, measuring, and communicating plans of action to improve the financial well-being of a company.

Concentration Pairings

Management Information Systems
Finance

Recommended Electives

In addition to the courses that are required for the Accounting concentration, these courses can help complement or enhance your understanding of the industry.

CMPT 120 - Introduction to Computing Science and Programming
CMPT 125 - Introduction to Computing Science and Programming
CMPT 127 - Computing Laboratory
CMPT 225 - Data Structures and Programming
CMPT 276 - Introduction to Software Engineering
ECON 102 - The World Economy
ECON 103 - Microeconomics
ECON 105 - Macroeconomics
ECON 104 - Economics and Government
ECON 201 - Microeconomic Theory I: Competitive Behavior
ECON 220W - Communication in Economics
ECON 310 - Money and Banking
ECON 333 - Statistical Analysis of Economics Data
ECON 342 - International Trade
ECON 345 - International Finance
ECON 372 - The Economics of Globalization
ECON 393 - Public Economics: Taxation
PSYC 100 - Introduction to Psychology I
PSYC 102 - Introduction to Psychology II
STAT 240 - Introduction to Data Science
PHIL 105 - Critical Thinking

Minor Programs

These suggested programs complement the Accounting concentration.

Economics
Communications
Computing Science
Psychology
Statistics

Certificates

Consider complementing the Accounting concentration with these certificates.

Business Technology Management Certificate Finance Stream
Business Analytics and Decision Making Certificate
Computing Studies – Certificate in Information Systems

Get the most out of your concentration courses

Take BUS 321 directly after BUS 320
Take BUS 331 directly after BUS 330
Don't leave BUS 421 to your last term
Split 400 level courses up into 2 separate terms

Ways to learn more at SFU Beedie

Join the Accountant Student Association (ASA)
Volunteer to complete taxes with ASA or Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
Compete in Peak Case Competition
Compete in Elite Case Competition
Take on an accounting role in any student club

Identifies market opportunities, manages projects, understands and leverages the behavioral dynamics of change, and provides leadership in a rapidly changing environment.

Concentration Pairings

Depending on your passions, I&E is a great complement to all eight of our other concentrations.

Accounting – build your financial self-sufficiency as an entrepreneur or build towards becoming a CFO in an entrepreneurial venture
Finance – create your own pathway into the world of FinTech, crypto and DAOs
Human Resources Management – enhance leadership and team management skills, and negotiate effectively
International Business – develop a global perspective to help you innovate, find the most impactful place to build solutions,be sensitive to local contexts and scale globally
Management Information Systems – select and implement the systems necessary to support your organization and enable data-driven decision-making
Marketing – develop a deep understanding who your customers are, their emerging needs, and new models to reach them
Operations Management – design novel operations and supply chains to fulfil orders and maintain quality
Strategic Analysis – develop strategic lens to bring to complex challenges, competitive and collaborative strategy and build consulting skills

Recommended Electives

In addition to the courses required for the Innovation and Entrepreneurship concentration, there are many courses at SFU that can complement and enhance your understanding of innovation and entrepreneurship. These are just a few:

CA 381 - Thriving as a Cultural Entrepreneur (3)
CMNS 110 - Introduction to Communication Studies (3)
HIST 135 - Capitalism and the Making of the Modern World (3)
IAT 110 - Visual Communication Design (3)
IAT 210 - Introduction to Game Studies: Theory and Design (3)
LBST 308 -The Labour Process: Technological Change and the Future of Work (3)
POL 150 - Science, Policy, and Innovation (3)
POL 253 - Introduction to Public Policy (3)
PSYC 106 - Psychological Issues in Contemporary Society (3)
SA 150 - Introduction to Sociology (4)
SEE 110 - Energy, Environment, & Society (3)
TEKX 101 - Introduction to 3D Printing and Laser Scanning Technologies (3)

Other suggested electives are part of the Charles Chang Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Minor Programs

These programs complement the Innovation and Entrepreneurship concentration.

Health Sciences – if you’re interested in creating change in healthcare systems
Indigenous Studies – if you want to bring knowledge of business, entrepreneurship and policy together to address issues facing indigenous peoples
Interactive Arts and Technology – if you’d like to learn how to create digital solutions
Public Policy – if you want to change institutional systems through policy interventions
Resource and Environment Management – if you’re passionate about driving sustainability

Ways to learn more at SFU Beedie

Join Enactus SFU
Look into SFU Venture Connection
Take on a Project Manager role in any student club

Areas analyzed include securities, markets, risk, investment portfolios, long-term investment and corporate financial decision-making.

Concentration Pairings

Accounting
Management Information Systems
International Business

Recommended Electives

In addition to the courses that are required for the Finance concentration, these courses can help complement or enhance your understanding of the industry.

ACMA 101 - Introduction to Insurance
AMCA 210 - Mathematics of Compound Interest
ECON 102 - The World Economy
ECON 104 - Economics and Government
ECON 201 - Microeconomic Theory I: Competitive Behavior
ECON 220W - Communication in Economics
ECON 260 - Environmental Economics
ECON 280 - Introduction to Labor Economics
ECON 310 - Money and Banking
ECON 342 - International Trade
ECON 345 - International Finance
ECON 353 - Economic History of Canada
ECON 372 - The Economics of Globalization
ECON 393 - Public Economics: Taxation
GA 101 - Introduction to Global Asia
MATH 157 - Calculus I for the Social Sciences
MATH 158 - Calculus II for the Social Sciences
MATH 232 - Applied Linear Algebra
STAT 203 - Introduction to Statistics for the Social Sciences
STAT 270 - Introduction to Probability and Statistics

Minor Programs

These suggested programs complement the Finance concentration.

Economics
Math
A Language minor
Communications

Certificates

Consider complementing the Finance concentration with these certificates.

Business Technology Management Certificate Finance Stream

Get the most out of your concentration courses

BUS 315 and 316 are required for 400 level finance courses.

Ways to learn more at SFU Beedie

Join the SFU Finance Club
Join the SFU Beedie Urban Development Program
Participate in the Peak Case Competition
Participate in the Elite Case Competition
Get hands on experience through SFU Beedie Endowment Asset Management (BEAM)
Take on a finance role in any student club

Provides a basis to understand, predict and manage organizational behaviour. SFU Beedie offers two specialized career streams: Personnel Specialist covers recruitment, training, negotiation and performance management. Managing People includes employment systems design, change and organizational leadership.

Concentration Pairings

Finance/Accounting - will allow you to understand and communication HR initiatives in terms of financial return
Entrepreneurship - gives you a context of HR in a start-up company
Marketing/Strategy - helps you to implement HR initiatives with a strategic focus
International Business - will help you to understand HR within a multi-national company
MIS - can give you a focus on HR information systems (HRIS, ATS, LMS, TMS)

Recommended Electives

Certificate in Workplace Rights (below) offers a variety of courses that students will find relevant to HR

Minor / Certificate Programs

These suggested programs complement the Human Resource Management concentration.

Labour Studies - Certificate in Workplace Rights
Education Minor - Curriculum & Instructional Design

Get the most out of your concentration courses

Below are two streams of HR courses that are optional but not required for entry into the general HR field.

Option A

It is recommended that students who wish to become a personnel specialist in a human resource function complete three of

BUS 481 - Recruitment and Selection (3)
BUS 482 - Performance Management (3)
BUS 483 - Introduction to Employment Law For Business (3)
BUS 484 - Employment Systems (3)

Option B

It is recommended that students who wish to develop skills in managing people, including employment systems design, change and organizational leadership, complete three of

BUS 485 - Negotiations and Conflict Management (3)
BUS 486 - Leadership (3)
BUS 487 - Organizational Development and Change Management (3)
BUS 488 - Group Dynamics and Teamwork (3)
BUS 489 - Management Practices for Sustainability (3)

Ways to learn more at SFU Beedie

Join Human Resources Students Association (HRSA)
Join Business Administration Students Society (BASS)
Take on an HR or Project Manager role in any student club

CPHR designation

Through a collaborative partnership with CPHR BC & Yukon, SFU Beedie now offers an accredited pathway to the Chartered Professional in Human Resources (CPHR) designation. This partnership provides numerous benefits for students aspiring to pursue a career in human resources. Learn more about how you can benefit from this program and obtain your CPHR designation.

Deals with aspects of competition across national boundaries. Understand how firms can successfully compete in the global arena while assessing structures, systems, and processes that contribute to efficient and effective international business activities.

Concentration Pairings

Marketing
Strategy
Finance
Human Resource Management

Recommended Electives

International Business has two major components: international strategic management and international human resource management.

If you are interested in international strategic management, you may find it interesting to take macro-economics, international political economy and industrial organization courses in economics, international studies, and political science departments.

If you are interested in international human resource management, you may find it interesting to taking culture, ethnography, economic sociology, social psychology courses in sociology, anthropology and psychology departments.

In addition to courses within the subject areas noted above, SFU Beedie students interested in International Business may also wish to consider the following SFU elective courses:

IS 101 - Global Challenges of the 21st Century: An Introduction to International Studies
IS 200 - Security and Global Governance: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (3)
ECON 342 - International Trade (3)
POL 131 - Politics of Prosperity and Inequality (3)

Get the most out of your concentration courses

If you would like to build your career in international strategic management, it would be recommended to take BUS434 (market entry) and BUS435 (management of international firms)
If you would like to build your career in international strategic management, it would be recommended to take BUS430 (cross cultural management) and BUS432 (international human resource management).
BUS431 (business with East Asian countries) can be an alternative if your interest is to build your specialties for Asian markets.

Ways to learn more at SFU Beedie

Join Management Consulting Career Prep (MCCP)
Participate in Case Competitions/Case analysis
Join Axis Consulting (Enactus SFU)
Participate in Jeux du Commerce West (JDC West)
Take on consulting project/roles

Integrates understanding of people, information, technology and strategy, to find ways to make organizations more agile, effective and efficient. Learn how to model, manage and use data to build and support business processes.

Concentration Pairings

Finance and MIS
OM/Marketing and MIS
Accounting and MIS is a growing field: many accounting processes are being automated and students pursuing a career in accounting should consider completing the MIS concentration (or taking the combination of BUS 362, 462, 464).
HR and MIS

Recommended Electives

In addition to the courses that are required for the Management Information Systems concentration, you should take elective courses outside of business, such as courses in Computer Science, Statistics, and Economics.

(For Software/Application Development Careers)

CMPT 120 - Introduction to Computing Science and Programming I
CMPT 125 - Introduction to Computing Science and Programming II
CMPT 127 - Computing Laboratory
CMPT 276 - Introduction to Software Engineering

(For Data Analytics Careers)

CMPT 225 - Data Structures and Programming
CMPT 354 - Database Systems
ECON 333 - Statistical Analysis of Economics Data
ECON 331 - Introduction to Mathematical Economics
STAT 240 - Introduction to Data Science
STAT 205 - Introduction to Statistics
STAT 260 - Introductory R for Data Science
STAT 261 - Laboratory for Introductory R for Data Science
STAT 270 - Introduction to Probability and Statistics
STAT 285 - Intermediate Probability and Statistics

(For Consulting Careers)

ECON 201 - Microeconomic Theory I: Competitive Behavior

Minor Programs

These suggested programs complement the Management Information Systems concentration.

Economics Minor (For Consulting Careers)
Computer Science Minor
Statistics Minor

Certificates

Consider complementing the Management Information Systems concentration with these certificates.

Computing Studies Certificate (For Software/Application Development Careers)
Business Technology Management
Business Analytics and Decision Making

Get the most out of your concentration courses

Get the most out of your concentration courses

BUS 237
BUS 362 and BUS 361
BUS 464 (following BUS 362) and BUS 466/462 (following BUS 361)
BUS 468

Ways to learn more at SFU Beedie

Participate in CaseIT MIS Case Competition
Join SFU Management Information Systems
Go to the SFU Hack Lounge
Take on a technology role in any student club

Focuses on strategic and comprehensive approaches to combine business planning, critical thinking and analytics tools to deliver insight on the processes of an organization, evaluate markets and provide consulting solutions and recommendations.

Concentration Pairings

Due to the in-demand nature of critical thinking skills, the Strategic Analysis concentration pairs well with any of the other 8 Business concentrations.

Recommended Electives

In addition to the courses that are required for the Strategic Analysis concentration, these courses can help complement or enhance your understanding of the industry.