Business - Management and Entrepreneurship at Algonquin College

Thrive with a challenging and rewarding career as an entrepreneur.

The two-year Business - Management and Entrepreneurship Ontario College Diploma program provides you with the knowledge and skills for a successful career in management or ownership of a small or medium-sized enterprise.

This program has a strong focus on business trends, developing an entrepreneurial mindset, and innovation in a digital economy. It encourages your creativity, strategic thinking and originality, as you cultivate the skills to start up and run a small business.

Explore your talents and creativity through hands-on projects that can be customized to your interests. Learn about business concepts and how to:

• develop a good business idea
• create a business model
• validate your business through market research
• manage people and resources
• understand financial information
• gain customer attention and sell
• create a digital presence
• launch a business

Create a start-up idea that you develop and enhance throughout the program. Complete multiple team-based projects, including the creation of an online store as well as the presentation of a comprehensive business plan.

Our campus is the ideal place for an entrepreneur. Faculty consists of entrepreneurs and business owners who continue to keep up with trends in their areas of specialization. You have access to the Discovery, Applied Research and Entrepreneurship (DARE) District, our entrepreneurship and innovation centre, and several other business supports and competitions. Activities such as the AC Market, B-ME Grill and Wolves Den provide you with opportunities for hands-on, experiential learning.

Upon graduation, you are ready for a variety of career paths. You may start a business, manage an existing business, continue your education or find a career in:

• eCommerce
• marketing
• digital marketing
• visual merchandising
• store planning
• professional sales
• social media
• marketing research
• purchasing
• retail
• customer service and management

An example of our experiential learning is the free access to Shopify, an online e-commerce solution which enables our students to create and launch a business during their studies.

SUCCESS FACTORS

This program is well-suited for students who:

• Want to control their destiny and start a small-to medium-sized business.
• Are interested in leveraging their entrepreneurial spirit to manage an existing business.
• Learn in an environment that encourages the generation of new ideas.
• Strive to become strategic thinkers and find better ways of doing things.
• Get the job done by being proactive.
• Are interested in being a part of a like-minded group of students and faculty that helps them achieve their goals.

Careers

Small and medium-sized businesses are the fastest growing sector of the economy, locally and internationally. Graduates are sought after in all industry sectors for their entrepreneurial spirit, creative and
problem-solving skills and their ability to successfully adapt to constant change in the business world.

Most graduates have chosen to open their own business or take over their family business. Others are gainfully employed in a wide range of business activities including visual merchandising, store planning, sales (both business-to-business and business-to-consumer), sales promotion, marketing, social media, marketing research, purchasing, customer service and management. Opportunities may be available with domestic and international retailing, manufacturing, service and wholesaling firms, and in government departments and agencies.

Learning Outcomes

The graduate has reliably demonstrated the ability to:

1. Identify and discuss the impact of global issues on an organization`s business opportunities by using an environmental scan.
2. Apply principles of corporate sustainability, corporate social responsibility and ethics to support an organization`s business initiatives.
3. Use current concepts/systems and technologies to support an organization`s business initiatives.
4. Apply basic research skills to support business decision making.
5. Support the planning, implementation and monitoring of projects.
6. Perform work in compliance with relevant statutes, regulations and business practices.
7. Explain the role of the human resource function and its impact on an organization.
8. Use accounting and financial principles to support the operations of an organization.
9. Describe and apply marketing and sales concepts used to support the operations of an organization.
10. Outline principles of supply chain management and operations management.
11. Outline and assess the components of a business plan.
12. Develop strategies for ongoing personal and professional development to enhance work performance in the business field.
13. Develop strategies for the operation and management of entrepreneurial ventures and small business enterprises.
14. Propose effective management, team-building, and leadership techniques that encourage innovation in an entrepreneurial setting
15. Create ecommerce-based business strategies appropriate to entrepreneurial ventures and small business enterprises.
16. Identify and apply discipline-specific practices that contribute to the local and global community through social responsibility, economic commitment and environmental stewardship.

Program Eligibility

• English, Grade 12 (ENG4C or equivalent).

• Mathematics, Grade 11 (MBF3C or equivalent).
• Applicants with international transcripts must provide proof of the subject specific requirements noted above and may be required to provide proof of language proficiency. Domestic applicants with international transcripts must be evaluated through the International Credential Assessment Service of Canada (ICAS) or World Education Services (WES).
• IELTS-International English Language Testing Service (Academic) Overall band of 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each band; OR TOEFL-Internet-based (iBT) Overall 80, with a minimum of 20 in each component: Reading 20; Listening 20; Speaking 20; Writing 20.

Should the number of qualified applicants exceed the number of available places, applicants will be selected on the basis of their proficiency in English and mathematics.