Business Quality Management
Is a Business Quality Management Major for Me?
Quality management is important in every employment sector from health care, to service industries, to manufacturing. Southwestern College Professional Studies offers a bachelor of science degree with a major in business quality management, to offer ideas and insights into current best practices as well as the thoughts of the pioneers of the quality movement. Improved customer service, employee development, and process improvement will increase productivity, improve work environments and impact on bottom-line results.
Business quality management is offered both in the classroom and online.
Program Outcomes
The Business Quality Management Degree is designed to provide learners with the knowledge and skills necessary to implement organizational change through quality improvement in all organizational processes of a business. The Business Quality Management curriculum is designed to produce industry leaders capable of assessing the impact of current management processes on operations within a business. Learners will, utilize information to improve the quality of products or services and evaluate customer satisfaction based on the consistent delivery of top quality products and services that are completed on time, and meet specific customer defined levels of quality. Learners will gain experience in the use of appropriate accounting and financial functions for decision making within today’s business environment.
Program Outcomes:
- Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of key business concepts and generally accepted business quality management theories and practices including Lean, Six Sigma, Total Quality Management and Benchmarking techniques. .
- Develop skills in financial decision making, and accounting for a career as a quality improvement manager.
- Apply critical thinking to the completion of projects in the field of quality management.
- Utilize leadership skill to direct people, and process in a complex business environment.
- Create documents which showcase an understanding of the use of different technological quality based tools, including Six Sigma, Lean, and Total Quality Management.
- Apply ethical reasoning in all aspects and levels of Business Management including local, federal and international environment.
- Formulate effective written and oral communication.
Required and Core Courses
Required Major Courses
BQM 301 Business Quality Management
BQM 310 Team Management
BUS 394 Marketing
BQM 320 Organizational Leadership
BQM 432 Accounting for Management
BQM 444 Project Management
BQM 450 Statistical Techniques
CAPS 492 Senior Capstone
Required Core Courses
HRD 210 Building Academic Success
CLO 320 Critical Thinking
CLO 340 Ethics in Today’s Organization
CLO 410 Decision Sciences
CLO 415 Professional Communication
CLO 499 Responsibility for the Future
Recommended Electives
BUS 328 Organizational Behavior
BSAD 340 Legal Environment of Business
OMGT 320 Managing Group Dynamics
BSAD 440 Strategic Management
HRD 325 Developing Workforce Talent
SOCS 320 Adults in Transition
All classes are 3 credit hours unless otherwise indicated.
Course Descriptions
BQM301 Business Quality Management
An overview of the key elements comprising a superior quality management program and the most accepted techniques (e.g., benchmarking, Baldrige criteria) for achieving quality.
BQM310 Team Management
The study of teams and the impact of self-directed teams on continuous improvement. The focus will be on viewing the organization as a series of interactive teams with emphasis on the skills and knowledge essential to organizing teams, evaluating data, measuring progress, plotting accomplishments, and developing empowered teams.
BUS394 Marketing
Product concepts from idea to delivery to the ultimate consumer will be examined. Also included will be pricing, promotion, distribution, and planning for the marketing effort. Emphasis on being an informed consumer included.
BQM320 Organizational Leadership
A study of leadership models and styles including the principles of the latest leadership thinkers. The focus will be particularly on leadership within organizations emphasizing motivational, decision-making, communication, and employee involvement skills. Special emphasis will be given to diversity management, including minorities and gender issues in the workplace.
BQM432 Accounting for Management
Designed to address the needs of the non-financial, non-accountant manager. Study will include basic accounting principles as they deal with budgeting, asset value, cost factors, direct labor, overhead, standard cost, positive and negative variances, and spreadsheet analysis. Includes an overview and an examination of activity-based costing.
BQM444 Project Management
The study and understanding of project management dealing with knowledge of the product and the environment in which the project is realized. The knowledge of technologies involved, financial, and contractual matters are included. The course will also develop an understanding that human relations and communications are critical to project management.
BQM450 Statistical Techniques
A survey of descriptive and inferential statistics, probability theory, sampling theory, hypothesis testing, and study of variability, regression and correlation. Emphasis will be placed on statistical applications and how to apply statistics in reducing large amounts of data into a meaningful form for effective decision making.
HRD 310 Financial Accounting Systems
Accounting and business organizations, recording process, income determination, asset valuation, financial statements, fund statements, ratio analysis, and use of financial accounting information for decision making
HRD210 Building Academic Success
Introduces academic success topics and tools that are intended to establish and strengthen understanding of the learner and academic success coach relationship, critical thinking and reading, institutional policies and procedures, and the basics of online research and academic writing while experiencing the Southwestern College Professional Studies course format on the way to becoming a Southwestern College Moundbuilder.
CLO 320 Critical Thinking
This course prepares learners to critically interpret, synthesize, analyze and evaluate information. It is designed to introduce learners to complex problems and help them come to well reasoned conclusions and solutions.
CLO 340 Ethics in Today’s Organizations
This course will utilize the expertise of professionals working in the various disciplines as well as the moral reasoning of ethicists. An approach to the ethical challenges of a modern society is developed.
CLO 410 Decision Sciences
This course introduces the learner to utilizing and applying both quantitative and qualitative methods for individual, organizational, and societal decision making. A variety of tools and techniques will be examined as the foundation for the development and interpretation of attributes and variables in addition to the use of data sources for the purpose of improving processes and organizational environments.
CLO 415 Professional Communication
A study of the communication processes in situations encountered in organizations and professional environments. Analysis of simulated and real life situations will include the creation of professional documents and various functions of written, oral, and interpersonal communications.
CLO 499 Responsibility for the Future
Seniors with various majors will share learning and approaches from their different disciplines toward dealing holistically with issues that shape the future, seeking to integrate disciplines and to synthesize knowing, caring, and doing.
CAPS 492 Senior Capstone
Learners will be required to develop a portfolio project that demonstrates their knowledge, skills, and abilities in their major discipline. Particular attention will be given to the presentation of evidence and artifacts from their major courses as well as recent research relevant to their specific program outcomes. The purpose of the final portfolio project is to document learner achievement and to ensure learning outcomes are met.
All classes are 3 credit hours unless otherwise indicated.
Admission Requirements
Entering students must have earned at least 30 college credits from previous college coursework or ACE evaluated military training, a GPA of 2.0, and have three years of work experience. Transfer hours accepted for Professional Studies admittance should include English Composition I and II, and mathematics (college algebra preferred). These courses may be considered in transfer or completed at Southwestern College.
Contact a program representative to evaluate your options.
Graduation Requirements
A total of 124 credit hours must be earned to graduate. You must have at least 60 credit hours from a four-year university or college and at least 30 hours from Southwestern College (does not include prior learning experience credits). Of the 30 hours required from Southwestern, 15 of the last 30 hours earned toward your degree must be at Southwestern College.
Meta
Quality management is important in every employment sector from health care, to service industries, to manufacturing. Southwestern College Professional Studies offers a bachelor of science degree with a major in business quality management, to offer ideas and insights into current best practices as well as the thoughts of the pioneers of the quality movement.
