Free Business and Entrepreneurship College Courses

Through open courseware programs, you can access course materials from a wide range of top universities. Whether you decide to take these courses on your own time or just skim through the information, www.bschool.com compiled a list of 100 business and entrepreneurship courses you can take for free.

Here is a sampling of what is included in the list:

Accounting and Finance
These free courses can give you some tips on managing money and making sound investments in your business.

Introduction to Financial and Managerial Accounting: This course is designed to help business owners make investment decisions, access managerial performance and place a value on other firms and businesses...

Economics
Make sure you understand the larger factors that are at work in affecting your businesses profits and losses by educating yourself on economics through these classes.

Real Estate Economics: Whether you want to work directly in real estate or just need some information to help you make a better decision on purchasing office space, this course from MIT can provide instruction on real estate markets through a study of demographics, location, and government behavior....

Communication
Getting ahead in business without good communication skills can be hard, so give yours a boost with help from these top-tier courses.

No Sweat Speaking: Check out this short online seminar from Columbia University to help you overcome your fear or nervousness about public speaking. You’ll get access to a series of videos that can offer you some tips and pointers on feeling at ease in front of a group of coworkers, clients or anyone else...

Management
Management plays an essential role in keeping any business running smoothly. Ensure you and your employees are working to their full potential with some advice from these free courses.

Optimization Methods in Management Science: In this course, you’ll learn about the theory, algorithms, and applications of optimization to help you better control the logistics, manufacturing, transportation, marketing, project management, and financial issues of your business...

Leadership
These courses can help you be a better leader by teaching you important skills like working as a team, ethics, and how to work with a diverse group of people.

Cross-Cultural Leadership: This course explores what constitutes effective leadership across cultures. It can be especially valuable for business owners who are working in a global environment...

Marketing and Advertising
If you’ve got a product or service to sell, you need to get your name out there. These courses can give you some helpful ways to better market your business.

Brand Leadership/E-Seminar 1, Brand Identity and Strategy: Professor Bernd Schmitt of Columbia Business School explains the steps businesses must take when marketing themselves to develop a successful brand identity in this online seminar, using real companies to illustrate his points...

Product Development and Launch
These courses can give you some help on successfully developing new products and getting them out to your buyers.

Managing the Innovation Process: Get a handle on the research and development going on in your business through this course which analyzes the process through through five levels: individual, team, network, organizational, and industrial...

Technology
No business can run without technology these days, so ensure you have a handle on the IT technologies it takes to keep your business in good shape through these courses.

Practical Information Technology Management: If you feel you don’t have the background to make sound business decisions about IT, give this course a try. You’ll gain insight into how to implement, maintain and manage these systems to the benefit of your business...

Law
These courses can help you make sure you know the legal rights and regulations that apply to your business.

Law for the Entrepreneur and Manager: Through his course, you’ll gain a basic understanding of legal issues that corporations and businesses face when organizing, getting financing, protecting intellectual property, working internationally and more...

Field Specific
These courses cover a range of more specific business topics...

The Software Business: If you have an interest in starting a software company, this course can be a good place to get some introductory information...

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Savoring a Moment

I was among three hundred or so Pittsburgh Pirate fans that made a pilgrimage to the site of old Forbes Field yesterday afternoon.

This is a quintessential 'Burgh thing - a ritual sprung spontaneously from the act of one Saul Finkelstein who decided during his lunch hour in 1985 to sit on a bench and listen to a tape of his favorite baseball game. You know, the one on October 13, 1960 when Bill Mazeroski, a light hitting second basemen batting eighth in the order, smacked a pitch from Ralph Terry over Yogi Berra's head into history.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Brian O'Neil called it a "cherished rite of autumn" as he described the scene:

"It happened yesterday afternoon, as it does every Oct. 13 at almost exactly the same time. Bill Mazeroski led off the ninth inning with a home run and a raucous crowd of Pirates die-hards erupted rapturously.

"There are no turnstiles at the remnants of Forbes Field's brick center field wall, and so no accurate crowd count. Call it 300 or 400 fans. They came to listen to every pitch of the deciding seventh game of the 1960 World Series because they wanted to relive a 48-year-old memory some were too young to have even had...

"A handful of former Pirates -- Dick Groat, Elroy Face, Bob Friend, Nellie King, Frank Thomas and Dave Giusti -- were there, and old baseball stories were told well. But this was a day for fans, not players, and youthful stories passed back and forth on a day as perfectly sunny as the one back when."

I sat on low wall and swapped tales with my neighbors, while the broadcast of the game crackled clearly in the background. Some things do not change. Gillette hawked the newest innovation in razor blades - the "super blue blade" with a silicon coating. The game announcers, however, did most of the hawking with only a smattering of jingles and jangles.

I enjoyed hearing the old names new again - Mantle, Maris, Berra, Skowron, Kubek, Richardson - I grew up a Yankees fan after all. But as the tension built - and amazingly, it did build, even though the outcome was foregone - I revelled with my fellow Pirate fans when the announcer excitedly sputtered "This may do it..." and erupted just as noisily as anyone else savoring the old moment of the Pirates triumph.

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New Orleans Business Plan Competition

Calling ENTREPRENEURS WITH IDEAS TO retain YOUNG TALENT in New Orleans! The Idea Village has announced 504ward's $100,000 Business Competition for entrepreneurs with ideas to retain young talent in New Orleans. Check out an inspired YouTube video to get your creative juices flowing.

Generously funded by local venture philanthropist Leslie Jacobs and already matched in resources and services from the local community for a growing total value of $200,000, the wining package will include services and assistance from among event sponsors
Adams and Reese,
Jones Walker,
Trumpet,
Fabre Smith & Coco,
Netcom Group,
New Orleans Magazine,
Gambit Weekly,
Human Resources Management Association of Greater New Orleans,
Lifestyle Revolution Group,
Event Producers and
Louisiana Technology Park:

If you are not ready to submit an idea but have resources to support New Orleans entrepreneurs, please contact the event sponsors about providing cash and in-kind donations. Visit Business Competition Overview for additional details, criteria, rules and regulations.

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