|
Courses >
Business Administration > Administrative Assistant Applications
 Discover how economics, accounting, business law, organizational behavior, and management affect administrative assistant responsibilities and activities. Determine how economic forecasting and the world economy affect an enterprise; understand the basics of accounting including the general ledger, the accounting equation, key accounting terms, and the types of accounting; and learn how balance sheets, income statements, cash flow management, and financial controls help keep your organization moving in a positive direction.
Understand the fundamentals of business law, contracts, and the principal-agency relationship; discover the forms of business organization and learn about ethics and organizational politics; and understand the basics of international business. Find out how you can successfully plan and exercise control, discover how problem solving and decision making can increase your efficiency and effectiveness, and explore various organizing principles. See the difference between motivation and leadership, discover how to increase creativity, find out how marketing differs from sales, and learn of the finer points of operations management. Understand why effective change management is so vital, and determine how to recruit, evaluate, select, and train team members.
This course may help you prepare for the internationally-recognized Certified Professional Secretary® (CPS®) and the Certified Administrative Professional® (CAP®) exam offered by the International Association of Administrative Professionals® (IAAP®).
Note: This course is not affiliated with, nor has it been endorsed by, the International Association of Administrative Professionals® (IAAP®).
This course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your questions. The instructor for this course will be Becky and Tony Swaim.
 Becky and Tony Swaim have helped thousands of clients, colleagues, and students reach organizational and personal goals. Working in the medical, manufacturing and education fields, the Swaims manage a successful consulting firm in southern California. Starting her career as a medical administrative assistant, Becky provides assistance as a program manager to various medical practices and has managed a large staff in the medical reimbursement field. Becky earned a Bachelor's of Arts degree in Speech Communication from California State University, Long Beach. Tony Swaim has been an accomplished online instructor since 1998. His industry experience includes twenty years of medical device manufacturing management. Tony's consulting areas are project management, customer service, total quality and supply chain management. He earned an MBA from California State University, Long Beach and holds professional certifications in five disciplines.
To purchase this course, click the Enroll Now button below:
Requirements:
Completion of Becky and Tony Swaim's Administrative Assistant Fundamentals course (or equivalent experience). Internet access, e-mail, and the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser.
Syllabus:
All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when the lesson is released, but you must complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.
A new section of each course starts on the second or third Wednesday of each month. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.
| Week One |
| Wednesday - Lesson 01 |
Since many organizations are going global, you can increase your value by knowing what's taking place in the world economy. In our opening lesson, we'll define the phrase "world economy" and then present the concepts of business cycles and economic growth. You'll learn the differences between gross domestic product (GDP) and gross national product (GNP) and macro and microeconomics. At the end of the lesson, you'll discover the importance of economies of scale and the experience curve, and you'll see how econometric forecasting helps you determine the future.
|
| Friday - Lesson 02 |
In this lesson and the one that follows, we'll emphasize accounting and financial concepts and fundamentals to help you increase your readiness to use financial information. You'll gain a strong foundation by learning about the general ledger, by seeing the difference between accounting and bookkeeping, and by investigating the different types of accounting. We'll demystify debits and credits and present the accounting equation as a cornerstone of all modern accounting systems.
|
| Week Two |
| Wednesday - Lesson 03 |
Now that you've absorbed the basics of accounting, it's time to learn how to apply financial information. We'll start off by reviewing two vital financial statements that you will find at nearly every organization—the balance sheet and the income statement. Next, you'll find out how to account for inventories and then discover the significance of cash flow. By the end of the lesson, you'll clearly understand how sound cash management helps companies stay on the right path.
|
| Friday - Lesson 04 |
Administrative assistants need to know the basics of business law. While we don't expect any of you to become lawyers, we do want to make sure you have a good grasp of key legal concepts, such as the principal-agency relationship and the basics of contracts. We'll start things off by looking at the idea of law, going through an overview of the legal system, and discussing the essence of commercial law. We'll tackle the essentials of contracts, such as the elements and the various types, and finish up by discussing Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code.
|
| Week Three |
| Wednesday - Lesson 05 |
In today's lesson, we'll examine the four most popular organizational forms: sole proprietorship, general partnership, limited partnership, and corporation. You'll learn all about organizational politics, and see that wherever people work together, you'll find politics. We'll also touch on business ethics, a critical concept that has received much attention in recent years.
|
| Friday - Lesson 06 |
Firms are pursuing international business at rapid rates. After you complete today's lesson, you'll know where to look to help your company meet their international business objectives. We'll explore the origins, characteristics, and definition of international business. You'll learn of the various ways to get started with international operations, including exporting and joint ventures. We'll conclude by exploring how international business varies by key area, including economic, political, legal, culture, technology, and demographic considerations.
|
| Week Four |
| Wednesday - Lesson 07 |
Life is filled with opportunities, problems, and choices. When you effectively plan and control your activities, and also make timely decisions and solve problems, you become a valued asset. We'll look at the ins and outs of planning because just about everything you do begins with a plan. We'll help you learn about the counterpart of planning: control. By the time you finish Lesson 7, you'll know all about problem solving and be able to apply a model of decision making.
|
| Friday - Lesson 08 |
Organizing is a critical topic that many companies struggle with. In this lesson, you'll discover how resources are organized so employees can productively perform job duties and complete tasks. We'll begin by studying the purpose of organization and examining several coordinating principles, including authority, power, and span of control. You'll learn the purpose of the staffing function and how to evaluate such key elements as recruitment, selection, appraisal, and development. We'll conclude this lesson by looking at six different forms of organizational charts.
|
| Week Five |
| Wednesday - Lesson 09 |
It's often said that motivation and leadership are two sides of the same coin. It's difficult to have one and not the other. Today, we'll begin by defining motivation and exploring four theories of motivation, and then we'll move into leadership. You'll learn about the different types of leadership and discover the difference between delegation and empowerment. We'll also examine creativity and help you see how you can increase your creativity levels.
|
| Friday - Lesson 10 |
We find that most people believe marketing is either advertising or selling. Our primary objective in today's lesson is to make sure that you clearly understand the distinction between marketing, advertising, and sales. You'll discover what it means to be consumer oriented. Also, you'll learn how to apply the four Ps (product, place, price, promotion) and see how these variables work together to form marketing strategies.
|
| Week Six |
| Wednesday - Lesson 11 |
Operations management is one of the unheralded activities at a company. The folks that work in this area don't receive much credit and don't lead a glamorous life. They're the behind-the-scenes people that keep the ball rolling so that customers are happy and the company makes profits. Today, we'll explore the diverse nature of operations management and see how selecting, designing, operating, controlling, and updating play an important role in all operating systems. We'll explore such key concepts as forecasting, capacity, and make-or-buy analysis, as well as discussing their importance.
|
| Friday - Lesson 12 |
In our final lesson, we'll discuss why change is so important, review why people are reluctant to change, and explore strategies that can help you overcome resistance to change. We'll help you establish a winning team and lead you through the stages of recruiting, evaluating, and selecting team members. We'll explore the concepts of a core team, extended team, and the overly important team. We'll finish up by discussing the complete performance planning process, including how to address performance problems and how to make reviews more meaningful.
|
To purchase this course, click the Enroll Now button below:
Student Reviews:
"I enjoyed the course, learned a lot, and felt it was presented well."
"I feel that he course and instructors were completely in line with my expectations and were very "user friendly" in each section of this course!"
"I felt the course had many avenues of information and gave me a well rounded experience and will be very useful."
"I found that I could take any subject from the lessons and apply it to my tasks at work or knew of a situation where the subject applied; it was fascinating to look at things in a new way and understand why managers/supervisors operate the way they do."
"I found the class to be very informative and helped me to see a lot of things in my day to day work in a new light. I beleive this class will not only help me to understand my office better but also help me in my goal to seek out new adventures in a different job."
"I really enjoyed this course, actually the series of courses and feel as though I can use this information on the job. Thanks so much."
"Recently I took a test for a position as a senior purchasing clerk for the school district here. On the test were several questions regarding leadership theory and practices, as well as general office procedures. I just wanted to say that for the most part, the questions asked fell right in line with what you presented in this class, and the previous fundamentals class. The material fell right in line with the real life scenarios that were presented on the test, and the actions that were expected as a supervisor. Kudos to you."
"This course gave me insight to the business world. Thank you for presening the material in such an enjoyable and easy to understand format."
"This was a very informative and useful course for any person who owns a business or works in a business environment."
"This was my first time taking an online course and I have to admit I really enjoyed it. I had to get used to reading from the computer and making sure I completed th assignments on time, but it was great. I know that I will be taking more online courses."
To purchase this course, click the Enroll Now button below:
Recommended Courses:
Students who enrolled in Administrative Assistant Applications were also interested in the following courses:
Administrative Assistant Fundamentals
Mastery of Business Fundamentals
|
