Introduction to the Management Department

Welcome to the management department at Greenville College. My name is Larry Sayler and I am a professor of management and the chair of the management department. I would like to give you a brief introduction to our department and of the distinctive way that we approach the study of management.

Management has been one of the central departments at Greenville College since the College was founded in 1892. When you join us at Greenville College, you will be joining a rich history of management thought and practice spanning over 100 years. We are very proud of our history, but also very forward-looking. One reason that studying management is so exciting is that it is such a fast changing field. For example, some of the largest and most influential organizations in the world today, such as Google, eBay, and Facebook, have only been in existence for a little over a decade. During the same time period, organizations that were thought to be rock solid have ceased to exist. Organization also face increasing global competition, environmental challenges and cost pressures that together make the business environment highly complex and difficult to navigate.

By grounding our management education in the rich soil of a Christian liberal arts institution, we endeavor to prepare students who can lead and manage in these times. We are convinced that a management education that is sensitive to the complex social, psychological, economic, governmental, religious and cultural challenges that organizations face today far better prepares students for managerial careers than an education that only presents current best practice. Our concern is to help students think - to develop brain power- that will not become obsolete in changing economic times. We supplement the development of brain power by helping students recognize and develop their own strengths portfolio using such instruments as the Gallup Organization's StrengthsFinder and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator - tools which are used extensively in business organizations.

Management department faculty have had extensive international experience on both long-term and/or short-term assignments in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Guatemala, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, Russia, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Ukraine, Turkey, China, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, South Africa and Rwanda. This work has included working for governments, consulting with organizations, working with mission organizations, working as visiting professors, and negotiating trade agreements.

Our faculty members are also active members in various academic organizations including:

Institute of Certified Management Accountants
Christian Business Faculty Association
Illinois Certified Management Accountants
Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association
American Marketing Association
Academy of International Business

Our Mission, Vision and Values

We offer a distinctively Christian management education. As business professors, we dedicate ourselves to producing graduates who can make the maximum impact on the business world and simultaneously make the maximum impact for Christ. We believe that God calls and anoints individuals for business and this is a central theme of the Management Department. In so doing, we attempt to fulfill our own distinctive Christian calling by encouraging students to:

• Share in God's creativity in the global business world. The Management Department recognizes that 80% of the people in the world who have yet to hear of Christ are in the economically poorest areas of the world. The department is therefore committed to help students see the evangelistic potential of business as mission.

• Recognize that business is a calling and to seek what God has called them to be and do. The Management Department strongly emphasizes that this calling to be a manager is no less a call than being called to ministry, teaching, mission or nursing. The department equally urges every individual to discover the call God has placed on their life and, with His help, develop their abilities and skills to enable them to fulfill this calling to manage.

The Management Department fulfills its mission through focusing on nine goals and objectives. By the end of the their program of studies, Management Department students will demonstrate that they can:

1. Get things done: Students will demonstrate their knowledge of, and capacity to use, management theories, concepts and techniques to plan, organize, lead and control in organizational situations and to bear responsibility for results.
2. Use resources wisely: Students will demonstrate their capacity to use appropriate quantitative and qualitative business and techniques to optimize the use of scarce resources.
3. Foster innovation: Students will demonstrate their capacity to use business theory and appropriate tools in new and unfamiliar situations to develop creative and practical solutions to organizational challenges.
4. Lead: Students will demonstrate their capacity to use leadership and team working skills in ways appropriate to their educational background and organizational experience.
5. Communicate: Students will demonstrate their capacity to communicate effectively in verbal, visual and written forms.
6. Manage legally and ethically. Students will demonstrate their capacity analyze the impact of the legal and ethical obligations of business.
7. Manage globally. Students will demonstrate their capacity to evaluate the complexities of working in a global environment and with people from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds.
8. Use information technology. Students will demonstrate their capacity to apply information technology in business endeavors.
9. Serve: Students will demonstrate their capacity to accept personal responsibility and to integrate our Christian mission with the world of work.

Our Students

And our students do very well! In the Future Business Leaders of America - Phi Beta Lambda Illinois State and National Competitive Event examinations Greenville College Students have performed very well. Here is a sample of their achievements.

2010 PBL Illinois State Leadership Conference- Effingham, IL
1st in State in Business Decision Making
1st in State in Business Presentation
1st and 3rd in State in Economic Analysis and Decision Making
1st and 2nd in State in Financial Analysis and Decision Making
1st in State in Human Resource Management
1st in State in Management Analysis and Decision Making
1st in State in Marketing Analysis and Decision Making
3rd in State in International Business

Our students have had similar results in Illinois State competitive events since 2005. In addition to our success in State competitions our students have performed well in national finals. National finals are only open to students who place 1st or 2nd in their state competitions.

2005 PBL National Leadership Conference Finals - Nashville, TN
4th in Nation in Managerial Analysis and Decision Making
10th in Nation in Statistical Analysis

2006 PBL National Leadership Conference Finals - Chicago, IL
7th in Nation in Managerial Analysis and Decision Making
9th in Nation in Human Resource Management

2007 PBL National Leadership Conference - Atlanta, GA
1st in Nation in Managerial Analysis and Decision Making
10th in Nation in Human Resource Management

2008 PBL National Leadership Conference - Anaheim, CA
2nd in Nation in Business Decision Making
7th in Nation in Hospitality Management

Graduates tend to either go into employment or on to graduate programs. Recent graduates have been employed by Edward Jones, Mass Mutual, Purina, Save-A-Lot Food Stores, Marathon Oil, Epic Systems, Greenville College, and University of Phoenix, Wells Fargo and State Farm Insurance to name but a few. Students studying for MBA or Masters in Management/ Management Practice degrees have joined programs at Rutgers University, Purdue University, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, Liberty University, Greenville College, Azusa Pacific University and Anderson University.

Our Majors and Minors

The Management Department offers five undergraduate majors, five minors in addition to our innovative Master of Science in Management Practice. The majors have a central core of theory and skills, combined with specialty courses to qualify the graduate in the particular field he/she chooses. Within the framework of the liberal arts education at Greenville, all of these provide an integration of liberal arts with business, and of theory with practice. It is very common for students to double major in our courses, or add one or two minors to their major.

Majors & Minors

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Management, M.S.
Management, M.S. integrates theory with real-life research and application in a unique master's program.

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Accounting Major
The accounting major requires the completion of 64 credits. This major leads to the bachelor of science degree.

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Business Administration Major
Business administration as a second major is only for students who have chosen another major outside the Management Department and wish to add to their education by enrolling in management courses. This second major requires that students complete 37 hours of credit.

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Management Major
The management major requires completion of 60 credits, and leads to a bachelor of science degree.

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Marketing Major
The marketing major requires successful completion of 51 credits. This major leads to the bachelor of science degree.

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Music Business Major
The music business major requires students to complete 51 hours of general education courses, 54-5 hours in the major, and 16 hours of electives. Students who complete the major are eligible to receive a bachelor of science degree.

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Accounting Minor
Accountants perform an important and socially useful role in society by compiling and verifying financial results for both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. There is a large and growing demand for accountants - invariably accounting is listed among the fastest growing fields in the U.S.

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Business Minor
For a Business minor you will be required to take at least 18 credit hours including basic management, economics, accounting, and marketing courses.

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Human Resource Management Minor
Organizations are increasingly recognizing that they can gain a competitive advantage in the skillful ways they manage people. The minor in Human Resources Management combines management, psychology, and communication to prepare students for the real challenges of managing human recourses.

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Marketing Minor
At its most fundamental level Marketing is about identifying people's unmet needs and finding profitable ways to meet them. Thus, marketing is not just about sales, but about product design, consumer behavior, marketing research, advertising, sales and sales management, and marketing management. For a Marketing minor you will be required to take at least 21 credit hours, which include classes in microeconomics, marketing and consumer behavior.

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Music Business Minor
The Music Business minor will prepare you to work as an executive, manager and administrator in all areas of the music industry. The program will provide you with concentrated study and professional expertise in artist and venue management, production, publishing, distribution, retailing, booking and touring. For a minor you will be required to take at least 21 credit hours.

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