Summer Business Institute

Getting Down to Business in 2008

This is an approved Miami Plan Thematic Sequence (SBI 1).

The Summer Business Institute is a six-week program designed to allow talented non-business students an opportunity to gain a clear advantage in the competitive job market: depth and breadth in your chosen field of academic study, plus competency in the underlying principles of business. The program assumes no prior knowledge of business topics and is intended to make business learning interesting and approachable, even for the most business-phobic students.

You will learn from people who know how business operates in the "real world," and can share the benefit of their career experiences with you. The program will be taught by Miami faculty members who have extensive academic and corporate experience across a wide variety of industries.

The integrated curriculum will look at US and global businesses inside and out, examining how companies develop strategies to succeed, and the internal functions that deliver on those strategies.

  • The program is not open to students currently enrolled in a major or minor in business.
  • Applicants must have completed 60 credit hours prior to attending the Summer Business Institute. The program is open to both undergraduate and graduate students.
  • The program does not have course prerequisites. Completion of the program does not currently serve as a prerequisite for other Miami University business courses. The program has been approved as a thematic sequence.
  • Nine credit hours toward graduation will be granted upon successful completion of the program. Participants will have the option to take the program either for a grade or on a credit/no credit basis.
  • An international option is available for the last two weeks of the program (at additional cost). You may be able to study business in London!

What You Don't Know Can Hurt You

Throughout your career you will work for a business of one type or another—a hospital, a law firm, a research laboratory, or one you start yourself. The fact is that you will be at a significant disadvantage if you don’t understand how the business operates and the way people work together in a business environment.

The Summer Business Institute is designed to build upon your foundation in liberal arts, science or engineering and provide the additional knowledge and skills essential for careers in a variety of industries, including banking, manufacturing, financial services, and the public sector.

This won’t be a passive learning experience. It will be intense, and it will be hard work, but the pay-off will be immense: you will be better able to present yourself to potential employers as well-rounded candidates ready to make a contribution on the job from day one. In addition, students who are considering graduate study will be able to make a more informed decision about the future pursuit of an MBA.

Program Content

  • Business Strategy: How does a firm grow its business, and why are some more successful at it than others?
  • Excellence in Leadership: Values-based leadership and the difference between managers and leaders.
  • Finance and Accounting: Deciphering the mysteries of financial planning and analysis: how corporations make money and why some don’t.
  • You are Nothing Without a Customer: Understanding markets and customer behavior.
  • Supply Chain Management: How do firms manage the process from drawing board to distribution?
  • Information Technology: How do firms manage the information that becomes the basis for all decision making?

Program Schedule

Dates: May 19, 2008– June 27, 2008
Sessions will be held: Monday through Thursday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.

How Do I Enroll?

Applications are available now in 104 Laws Hall or may be downloaded below. Applications will be reviewed in the order in which they are received, so you are encouraged to apply early. A deposit will be required by the beginning of the spring semester for those choosing the international option.

Completed application can be mailed, faxed, or e-mailed to Sara Weisbrodt:

  • Farmer School of Business
    Summer Business Institute
    Attn: Sara Weisbrodt
    Miami University
    Oxford, OH 45056
  • phone: 513.529.3631
  • fax: 513.529.6992
  • email: weisbrsl@muohio.edu

Contact Information

If you have issues related to Miami's SBI, please contact Sara Weisbrodt at weisbrsl@muohio.edu or Program Director Rocky Newman at newmanw@muohio.edu