Diversity is a touchstone of our program. We foster an appreciation of cultural, linguistic, ethnic and managerial diversity. Our graduates are ready to begin their careers in business in the fields of marketing, finance, manufacturing, sales, advertising and management, and are comfortable working in either American or international settings. Our degree also provides a firm foundation for MSc or MBA graduate study
International and experienced faculty:
The Bachelor of Science in Business Administration faculty come to AUR from diverse educational, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and from various parts of the world. Some are life-long scholars and researchers. Others are business people who leave their offices to share their real-world experience with our Business Majors in our classrooms. Several are former managers who have become full-time academics.
Real-world focus:
AUR brings the business community into the classroom and takes the study of business out into the world. Business Major students earn credit with internships in one of the many international organizations or corporations headquartered in Rome.
Global networking:
Each semester corporate leaders participate in AUR’s Business Roundtable discussions, events such as the Business Speaker Series, and seminars with companies such as Michael Kors, Pfizer, Nestlé, Disney, JWT, the Federal Reserve Bank and CNN represented. Faculty members in the B.S. in Business Administration also organize and lead for-credit learning excursions in various regions of Italy.
Exemplary exchange opportunities:
In addition to AUR’s array of study abroad opportunities, our highest achieving students (from any major but especially business) may also choose to spend a semester at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, one of the top 10 undergraduate business programs in the US.
Overview
The Bachelor of Science in Business Administration curriculum provides a broad, professional foundation in all functional areas of business. Business Majors follow a structured, organic core curriculum that introduces them to the various functions (marketing, finance, operations, accounting) of business, provides them with the quantitative tools (statistics, computer science, economics, decision science) necessary to understand and interpret data, and introduces them to prevailing management theories and paradigms as well as issues related to legal and ethical concerns in the business arena. Upper-level courses incorporate case analyses, group projects, and creative problem-solving. All Business Majors take the capstone course, Strategic Management, in their last spring semester, which is a dynamic, seminar-style, case-based application of the tools and concepts acquired in the first three years of study.
The program has an international focus with many opportunities for Business Majors to explore the social and cultural ramifications of operating in the global economy. The nature of the student body complements the international flavor of the program. AUR Business students represent more than 30 different countries. The program promotes a work ethic that prepares students for working in diverse multi-cultural environments. Interdisciplinary learning opportunities allow students to understand how different worldviews can affect the functioning of a business.
Course requirements and further detail
For more in-depth information about this program and individual course requirements, please see our full catalog.
The AUR Business Club
The Business Club is the oldest club at the University. Their mission is threefold – social, functional, and service.
- Social: meeting and mixing with students of similar interests; the Club organizes Aperitivos, parties, bbqs, and other events, including the Annual BizClub Fashion Show in April, a highlight of the student social calendar.
- Functional: learning about business; the Club organizes field trips, visits to businesses and trade shows and invites guest speakers.
- And service: Under a concession granted by the University, the Business Club manages AUR’s merchandising business, ensuring a steady stream of classic and new apparel products so that AUR students both resident and study abroad can “wear their colors” here or in all the places around the world where they live and travel.
For more than 15 years the “BizClub” has been improving the university and the quality of its students’ education through its activities and by reinvesting a portion of the proceeds of the AUR Merchandising Business back into the University in the form of a gift each year. Offering AUR’s apparel and other gear, the BizClub sets up shop in the Courtyard of the University once a month. Keep a look out around the university and on their Facebook Page for information on upcoming sales!
2018 Capstoner Day Builds Expertise and Esprit de Corps for Business Seniors
Business Seniors recently spent an intense day together exploring the motorcycle industry, analyzing the benefit of industry trade shows, discussing the applications of these to their own work on their theses, and then sharing a meal they had cooked together.
The day started at the Fiera di Roma, one of the largest exhibition centers in the world, located near Fiumicino Airport. The primary purpose of this first activity was to learn about trade shows – industry-wide expo’s that bring together an entire value chain, including suppliers, industry competitors, retailers and buyers. The trade show chosen, MotoDays, was particularly exciting, as it included all the world’s leading producers of two-wheeled vehicles, among them Harley Davidson, BMW, Yamaha, Suzuki, Ducati and more, and, besides the serious business of the day, featured a cycle show and the chance to ride some of the featured bikes.
The Capstoners visited stands, talked with company representatives, found out what’s new and exciting in the world of motorcycles, and also discovered a wide array of other organizations that participated in the Trade Show even though they have nothing to do with motorcycles. For example, the Italian Air Force had a stand, at which several of the students (and the professor) got a chance to take a breathtaking ride in the Fighter Jet Simulator. The Air Force and many other organizations, participate in industry trade shows to increase awareness of their brands and target potential recruits whose interests (in this case in motor technology and engines) might indicate a potential match.
After lunch, the group headed back to Rome, to regroup in the evening in a kitchen in Trastevere. AUR student Amanda Wotring was ready to lead the Capstoners in what Professor Fitzsimmons called “the quintessential team-building exercise:” a hands-on cooking lesson. Amanda is an experienced chef who had previously revealed that she organizes and delivers “pop-up” catering and cooking lessons. And so was born the idea of the Capstoner Cooking Lesson. Under Amanda’s tutelage, students and professor alike gathered around a large butcherblock table. Together they chopped and diced and mixed and rolled and produced dozens of Vietnamese-style spring rolls, both fresh and fried, as they chatted about an array topics as diverse as the nationalities represented around the table (Pakistan, Japan, Ghana, Ukraine, Egypt, US, Italy, Israel, Venezuela).
The Business Capstone process is an intense four-month exploration of industry and company analysis and strategy development, that each student applies to a publicly traded, transnational firm of his/her choice. This year’s group has chosen firms in industries ranging from videogames and consumer electronics to automobiles and fast food. Each student writes up their research findings and recommendations in a Strategic Audit which is then presented to the group. While the thesis is individual, students support one another through the process, and build a strong sense of esprit de corps.
