Graduate Certificate in Business Management - Entrepreneurial Enterprise

at Humber International Graduate School Canada

Today’s businesses know that it is critical to stay on top of what’s next in their industry: the next trend, the next tool, the next technology. They are developing capacity within their organizations to use big data to derive insights for a more profitable future. Businesses have a growing need for professionals who can use data, analytics and business acumen to improve ROI, streamline and expedite processes, drive down costs, create smart products, and build better customer experiences.
Humber’s Business Insights and Analytics graduate certificate program provides you with practical, in-demand skills in business; database management and programming; data analysis and interpretation; and decision-making and communications. It consists of a common platform of 21 core courses in business, database management, programming for machine learning and data analytics, plus three specialization stream courses in either Marketing or Operations.

Graduates of this program will:

• Develop effective business strategies, tactics and processes based on data-driven analytics
• Support business decision making with advanced statistical and quantitative analysis; and advanced data visualization and communications tools and techniques
• Generate business insights by developing and using databases, big data and machine learning

Learning Outcomes:

• Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:
  • Design, develop and manage databases and big data using current IT technologies and tools to query, program, process and analyze open source structured and unstructured data.
  • Apply project management techniques, skills and software to scope, track and manage resources of business analytics projects.
  • Use established and current frameworks for business, economic and financial analyses to inform business decision-making and recommend appropriate business strategies and tactics.
  • Implement personal and professional development strategies to improve job performance and promote professional growth.
  • Collect, store, process, model, analyze, interpret and communicate data using advanced statistical and qualitative techniques and current information technology tools.
  • Provide insights to solve strategic business management challenges derived from a range of business intelligence metrics.
  • Prepare and communicate complex materials, verbally, in writing and digitally for a variety of audiences and purposes, clearly and effectively using, where appropriate, current technology.
  • Formulate and implement plans for the collection, storage, processing, modelling, analysis, interpretation and communication of data that meet the needs of the client.
  • Develop and implement machine learning algorithms and applications in order to capitalize on previously unrealized business opportunities.
  • Formulate and implement plans for managing the full data life cycle adhering to all theoretical, practical, ethical, legal, security, professional, and privacy guidelines, requirements and standards.
  • Present a persuasive and cogent argument and recommendations for actionable insights derived from sophisticated analysis of data from a wide variety of sources.
  • Ensure that all analysis of numerical and text data, and all data processing is conducted with a high degree of accuracy, and is consistent with the appropriate principles of data integrity and stability.

Work Placement:
Get the hands-on experience that industry demands with a 320-hour (minimum) work placement that will give you the opportunity to apply what you have learned in the classroom to the real world. Students initiate the placement with the aid of faculty, targeting companies in the Greater Toronto Area. Placements may be completed on a part-time basis throughout the academic year, or full time during the term immediately following the program.

Humber’s Financial Planning graduate certificate program provides a clear pathway to careers in the lucrative financial services industry including banks, investment firms, insurance companies, financial planning firms among others. Our program provides you with a broad range of financial services, business and soft skills plus the opportunity to earn the licences and designations that financial services institutions are looking for in the professionals they hire. 
Faculty are chosen for their expertise and experience in the financial services sector, and many continue to work in the industry.

Learning Outcomes

• Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:
  • Adhere to the certified financial planner ethical code of conduct, standards of practice, regulatory, legal and taxation requirements.
  • Establish and manage the client-planner relationship.
  • Analyze and evaluate client financial data including investment goals, life and health insurance, retirement planning and estate planning, considering economic information.
  • Develop and present financial recommendations and/or alternatives regarding investments, retirement planning, estate planning, life and health insurance.
  • Implement financial recommendations and monitor clients’ accounts.
  • Market and promote financial products, services, solutions and strategies that meet client needs.
  • Provide investment advisory services, using current software and entrepreneurial skills.
  • Qualify to challenge the Certified Financial Planner (CFP™), the Life Insurance Licence (LLQP) examination and the Canadian Securities Course.

Work Placement

• Gain first-hand experience in the financial services industry with a four-week work placement taking place either part time during the program or full time at the end of the program. Placements provide the valuable work experience employers seek.

Humber’s Enterprise Software Development graduate certificate program provides advanced concepts, skills and knowledge for those currently employed in the information technology and related fields, or graduates of information technology or computer studies programs.

Students will have the opportunity to select their pathway through elective courses ranging from software development, web and mobile application development to big data, business intelligence and database administration. Students will then apply these concepts in variety of hands-on activities and enterprise projects.

In the final semester of the program, students become involved in an industry project supervised by one of the Humber industrial partners, helping students apply and enhance their IT, teamwork, interpersonal and project management skills.

Moreover, through a range of Capstone showcasing events and employer engagement workshops, students will have a chance to showcase their portfolios and capstone project to employers and practise how to reach prospective employers in today's competitive job market.

Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:

• Describe the current and future use of e-commerce technology to improve intra and inter-organizational processes.
• Analyze and define the specifications and design of an e-commerce system based on user requirements.
• Identify connectivity and interoperability issues in the development of Internet applications for networking.
• Plan, track and present the progress of a project applying principles of project management.
• Develop programs for distributed applications involving web page technology.
• Develop interfaces on the web.
• Modify, document and maintain existing software components.
• Outline legal, ethical and intellectual property issues and practices.
• Develop applications consistent with security practices.
• Develop code to deliver multimedia data streams.
• Develop programs for distributed applications using client-side technology.
• Develop a web site that implements business transactions.
• Integrate corporate database capabilities with a web site.
• Develop applications consistent with performance applications.
• Write project proposals.
• Prepare and present a web project.
• Research new technology.
• Compare and contrast current e-commerce strategies.
• Demonstrate professional and ethical behaviour.
• Perform user training.
• Using available technology, implement e-commerce objectives.

Humber’s comprehensive Human Resources Management graduate certificate program covers all the key functions in this diverse field including employment law, labour relations, training and development, pension and benefits, occupational health and safety, compensation, performance management, recruitment and selection, and human resources planning. The expertise, knowledge and management skills you acquire can be applied to any organization. Humber’s faculty draw on their many years of hands-on human resources experience and expertise to successfully guide you through this program.

The first of its kind in Canada, our program is in high demand because it prepares you to work in all areas of human resources. Core concepts are studied in the classroom and applied in a work placement to help you gain a practical understanding of human resources.

You will gain the knowledge, skills, and experience to become a highly marketable and effective human resources professional. Our program offers a comprehensive exploration of all the core components of the field including its power to influence key business decisions.

Work Placement

• Get human resources management work experience with a short-term or long-term work placement (minimum 160 hours required).

Motivated. Creative. Innovative. If these words describe you, then our intensive Graphic Design for Print and Web certificate program is for you. You will learn industry-best practices and how to communicate effective design solutions using composition, typography, illustration, interactive media and web design. Throughout our program, you will work towards developing a cutting-edge portfolio filled with real-world projects that will help you stand out in the creative field of graphic and web design.

In order to achieve the best, you will learn from the best. This program offers you access to the latest industry standards in hardware, design applications and instruction. Our labs are equipped with the latest Apple workstations, up-to-date Adobe Creative Cloud software and our course instruction is facilitated by industry-leading working professionals in their field of practice and study. Over the course of the program, you will build connections with industry professionals, alumni and community partners to help prepare you for future career opportunities, through supportive mentorship and coaching.

SKILLS YOU'LL DEVELOP

• Learn design theory concepts
• Learn how to communicate design-thinking strategies
• Web Design
• Illustration
• Functional Composition
• Typography

Humber’s Business Management – Entrepreneurial Enterprise graduate certificate program provides the practical skills and knowledge you’ll need to take on a wide variety of leadership roles in innovative entrepreneurial enterprises.

This program covers every area of entrepreneurship from the fundamentals of developing and refining ideas to launching, growing and managing the enterprise. You will be prepared to take on key management roles in entrepreneurial enterprises including operations, marketing and sales, finance, human resources and strategic planning. Plus, you will learn all you need to start and manage your own new enterprise.

Students in this program can participate in Humber’s Business funding competitions for a chance to obtain seed funding for their new enterprise and other contests and progams sponsored by Humber's Centre for Entrepreneurship. Students in this program automatically become members of Humber’s Centre for Entrepreneurship which gives them access to mentorship, coaching, networking events, seminars, workshops, and entrepreneurial facilities and workspaces.

Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:

• Develop and implement a comprehensive business plan for a new business enterprise.
• Present an executive summary of a comprehensive business plan to potential financial backers.
• Set up and operate a basic bookkeeping and accounting system for a new enterprise that will enable effective financial management.
• Construct, interpret and analyze key financial statements.
• Devise marketing plans encompassing development, implementation, performance monitoring and adjustment using appropriate tools, techniques and applications.
• Execute leadership strategies by modelling ethical practices and corporate social responsibility to enhance a firm’s competitive position and sustainability.
• Comply with legal and regulatory requirements, tax and other financial requirements, and non-financial compliance requirements and controls systems.
• Apply various selling structures, methods and techniques to generate revenue and effectively manage client relationships.
• Develop and implement an effective human resource management plan to support new ventures and ongoing business operations.
• Build and manage relationships using communication, networking, teamwork and leadership skills.
• Use evidence-based analysis and decision-making in all functional business areas.
• Analyze and realign business strategies to contribute to the operational sustainability of new or ongoing small or medium size enterprise.

Humber’s Advertising Media Management graduate certificate program gives you the knowledge and skills to effectively research and analyze both the marketplace and a target audience, and subsequently develop the best and most creative media solutions that meet the client or the company’s advertising goals.

Throughout the program, you will learn how to translate marketing objectives into focused media campaigns, assess the strength and weaknesses of different media types, analyze media data, and determine how best to sell advertising time/space for both traditional (TV, radio, outdoor media, print) and emerging (all things digital) platforms.

Upon graduation, you will have learned how to speak knowledgeably and persuasively in a media environment, and how to negotiate as buyers and sellers of media time and space. Through the enhancement of your client and customer communications skills, you will gain the ability to focus on the needs of an organization, build lasting relationships across the industry and add tremendous value to the companies you work with.  Finally, you will build your technology skillset through the use of industry specific research databases and softwares throughout your studies.

With this comprehensive understanding of both the traditional and digital media landscape, you will hit the ground running in your new career at a boutique or world leading advertising agency or any number of small to large companies across the media management landscape. 

Work Placement
Gain hands-on industry experience with a 160-hour (minimum) work placement. Here you will have the opportunity to apply what you’ve learned in the classroom to a real-world business environment. With our support, you’ll find your placement at any number of local, national or international advertising/media-related companies or brands. Placements can be completed on a part-time basis throughout the academic year or full-time once your classes are complete. 

In the current knowledge economy and information age, and as organizations recognize the growing need for research on which key policy and strategic decisions are based, the demand for social, market, and marketing research has increased substantially. The Research Analyst graduate certificate program focuses on the theoretical, practical, and ethical underpinnings of research, while equipping you with the statistical, technical and professional skills necessary to do applied research in a variety of different settings throughout the public and private sectors.

In this program, you will focus on all of the major aspects of the research process including research design, information retrieval and evaluation, data collection, analysis and interpretation, and the preparation and presentation of research findings.

Special features of the program include an emphasis on professional, ethical and legal implications when designing research studies; new research technologies for data collection; analysis; presentation; proposal writing; research entrepreneurship; project management; and program evaluation.

Learning Outcomes

• Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:
  • Interpret primary and secondary data applying principles of currency, relevance, authority, accuracy and purpose.
  • Design and execute a marketing or social research project to provide recommendations and actionable insights.
  • Manage research projects with due consideration to budget, schedule, quality, scope, ethics, and data governance.
  • Prepare a variety of effective social and marketing research documents and deliverables using knowledge translation and mobilization practices.
  • Communicate results of research using effective and engaging written, oral, visual and multi-media modes, that are appropriate for diverse audience needs.
  • Respond to the evolving sensibilities/concepts of equity, diversity and cultural sensitivity in conducting research.
  • Mitigate risk by the detection of bias in research design and processes.
  • Collect data using varied robust, effective and appropriate quantitative and qualitative research methods.
  • Organize and analyze primary and secondary data using industry standard software tools.
  • Conduct research projects in accordance with legal, ethical and professional standards.
  • Develop a career ready profile through goal-setting, on-going professional learning and industry exposure.
  • Evaluate research evidence and findings for the identification of assumptions, soundness of logic and the veracity of claims.
  • Select and synthesize academic, trade, business, institutional, governmental, or non-governmental resources for appropriate research purposes.

Work Placement

• Students complete a twelve-week placement allowing them to gain valuable practical and professional experience.

Humber’s Information Technology graduate certificate program is designed to support students without an information technology (IT) background. Our program’s first semester includes an introduction to software development, database concepts and web development. In subsequent semesters, students engage in advanced study of a variety of information technology topics in areas including database development, database administration, enterprise software development (.NET/Java), web development, and mobile application development (Android and/or iOS).

You will learn how to effectively control, maintain and develop information technology systems. Working in teams and individually, you will create commercial applications that apply acquired theories to the creation, administration and development of databases as well as database-driven mobile, web and desktop applications. Project management skills will prepare you to work effectively in large IT departments and tackle large projects efficiently. In addition to building your collaborative and teamwork skills, this program will teach you how to best market yourself to prospective employers in today's competitive job market.

The Usability Lab is a new facility for students in the School of Media Studies & Information Technology at Humber College. This “Live Lab” is a full-fledged usability lab where content creators can capture & assess the interaction between user and design. This Usability Lab is specialized, in that it was purposefully built for usability studies to ensure that the environment does not interfere with the testing. Designed with flexibility at its core, it has been equipped with a broad variety of technology, supporting usability testing at many different levels of sophistication. What makes this lab unique is the fact that it is mobile. This one-of-a-kind usability lab can be delivered to those who wish to use and evaluate our designs, as well as their own. For our students, they can participate in, and lead experiments that will truly test the designs they have developed, to make sure they work in the manner they have been designed to work.

Graduates may qualify for full-time and freelance employment as enterprise software developers; junior and intermediate software developers; enterprise programmers for e-commerce; web programmers; intranet, extranet and database developers; or database administrators in corporate, small- and medium-sized businesses, government, entertainment, education, healthcare and the not-for-profit sector.

Insurance has become an integral part of virtually everything we do in life and business. Roles within the insurance industry are many and varied. Whether you enjoy working with numbers, doing research, solving problems or working with people, you can find your specialty in insurance.

Humber’s Insurance Management – Property and Casualty graduate certificate program prepares you for a variety of entry level management career paths in the large and growing property and casualty insurance industry. Learn the fundamentals of the industry and its three main functional areas – underwriting, loss adjusting and agency/brokerage – and gain transferable skills in business communications, computer applications, insurance accounting and metrics, marketing, sales and customer service, project management and leadership. Employment-focused experiential learning helps you consider a variety of options, as you launch your career. 

Learning Outcomes

• Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:
  • Differentiate the functions of and the relationships between various elements within the structure of the insurance industry in Canadian and global contexts in order to identify business opportunities, challenges and solutions.
  • Use current and relevant insurance industry-specific terminology when communicating with stakeholders.
  • Assess and manage the four major categories of risk (hazard, operational, financial and strategic) to determine insurance needs associated with specific cases.
  • Apply best practices for risk management to finance the negative consequences of risk events in multifaceted situations.
  • Provide evidence-based recommendations for management of hazards and risks faced by an organization.
  • Evaluate the clauses, terms and conditions of various insurance policy wordings in order to determine the appropriate coverage according to defined risk tolerance levels.
  • Adjust, negotiate and settle insurance claims to satisfy needs of claimants and providers.
  • Provide rationale for the acceptance or rejection of an application for insurance to uphold efficacy of decision-making.
  • Evaluate the needs of a commercial and/or personal client in order to plan and recommend an insurance program that provides protection from identified exposures.
  • Select leadership and communication strategies necessary to manage others and accomplish organizational goals.
  • Prepare and deliver effective integrated marketing, customer service and sales plans to further organizational objectives.
  • Develop, interpret and present common property and casualty insurance industry metrics and financial statistics and data to support organizational decision-making.
  • Apply project management methodologies to identify, plan, and execute various property and casualty insurance managerial projects.
  • Develop strategic business plans in order to respond o changing opportunities and challenges within the property and casualty insurance business.

Work Placement

• Get hands-on experience in the industry with a 160-hour (minimum) work placement that will give you the opportunity to apply what you have learned in the classroom. Students initiate the placement with the aid of faculty, targeting companies in the Greater Toronto Area. Placements can be completed on a part-time basis throughout the academic year, or full time during the term immediately at the end of the program.