Heritage Business Management

This course provides an introduction and overview of the heritage industry from a business perspective. It covers the global economic context of the heritage industry today, and how the industry transitioned over the last 50 years from a primarily public to a primarily private industry. The class provides an introduction to business, business concepts, and how business is conducted in private heritage organizations. Students will gain a basic introduction to heritage industry economics and business fundamentals so that they may succeed in the more in-depth topical classes in this program.

This course provides a practical overview of the principles and foundation of accounting as relevant to the heritage industry. Heritage industry practitioners work in a wide variety of environments ranging from consulting to tourism. In addition to area-specific experience and education, successful practitioners require an understanding of finance that includes accounting, project life cycles, critical consumption and management of capital, and basic tax planning. In this course, participants will explore accounting and finance best practices for private, non-profit, and governmental heritage-related businesses. Active learners will engage industry-specific case studies and apply methods of financial management, analysis, and planning to solve real-world problems.

This course covers the marketing, sales, and contracting functions of heritage organizations. Without sales, heritage organizations are not viable. How do organizations find the most valuable work, contract with clients, sell products and service, and ensure they are adding value to the organization? This class provides students with an understanding of these essential business functions, and how to implement them in heritage organizations.

This course introduces selected topics, problems, and strategies in Operations Management (OM), and their relationship to the heritage industry. OM is concerned with the design, operation, and improvement of an organization’s production systems. Concepts apply to both manufacturing and service organizations through the integration of all functional areas.

Heritage organizations are full of people, and these people are typically and simultaneously an organization’s biggest asset and greatest liability. This course explores, from a business and legal perspective, people in heritage organizations. The major topics in this course are corporate governance, organizational change and strategy, cultural diversity, risk management, emotional intelligence, employee relations, harassment, labor economics, compensation and benefits, workplace planning, and leadership/recruitment.