Our Range of Learning Paths is built to help meet your goals.

Certificates

Comprehensive expertise in a subject area for professional transformation and workplace impact
  • 2 to 6 months
  • $2,000 to $10,000
  • Online

Courses

In-depth exploration of a topic within a short amount of time, delivering powerful insights and practical skills
  • 2 to 4 weeks
  • $299 to $1,199
  • Online

Workshops

Rapid development of specific, actionable skills and strategies to be immediately applied at work
  • 3 hours
  • $449
  • Online

Degrees

Academic credentials requiring formal admissions, prerequisites, and multi-year commitment
  • 15 to 24 months part-time
  • Prices vary
  • Hybrid

On Campus

Executive development developed and taught by Cornell faculty in an interactive in-person format
  • 2 to 5 days
  • $3,000 to $10,000
  • In person - Ithaca or NYC
Select a Business & Finance Program that fits your needs
Explore and compare flexible learning opportunities from across Cornell’s portfolio of world-class Business & Finance programs.
Certificates(51)
Courses(51)
Workshops(2)
Degrees(4)
Showing 51 of 51
Ask Sage

Exploring Data Visualization Techniques

Course
2 weeks
Online
In today's world, data fills every corner — from business to science to our daily lives. Yet large swathes of data aren't practical or parseable for humans when presented in their native formats; we rely on faster and more intuitive ways of digesting complex data. One of these methods is data visualization, or the graphical representation of data in the form of charts, graphs, and diagrams. In this course, you will encounter myriad ways to visualize data and provide your audience with a clear understanding of the data's contents. You will explore the fundamental principles of data visualization through the lens of data types, audience analysis, and communication effectiveness. You'll categorize data and select compelling visualization methods while considering your intended audience and message objectives. You'll also gain insight into the strategic implementation of data visualization, including determining when visualization enhances communication and when alternative approaches might be more effective.
$999

Evaluating Stocks

Course
2 weeks
Online
Investing in stocks is a critical strategy in any financial portfolio, whether personal or professional. Yet how do you know whether a stock is a smart buy or not? You don't — until you do the research. If you're able to understand a company, you are well on your way to understanding its stock. In this course, you will practice doing the financial analysis work needed to identify profitable stocks worth investing in. You will examine data in online public sources such as SEC 10K and 10Q reports, earnings releases, press releases, and investor conference materials to score fundamental information about the company and stock you have chosen to study. By evaluating a company's position in the marketplace, you can begin forecasting the performance of its stock. Exploring different valuation techniques, you will practice making a target price to compare whether the stock's current market value is high or low relative to the future predicted value of the stock. Along the way, you will incorporate storytelling into your research to summarize your findings and curate a compelling investment thesis. With this investment thesis to advance your claims, you will curate a stock pitch and communicate your preliminary recommendation of whether to buy, sell, or hold a chosen stock.
$999

Food Safety and Quality

Course
2 weeks
Online
Food innovators often introduce new and exciting quality products to the food industry. While ensuring the quality is right and consistent, food innovators must also ensure their products are safe and that they meet all federal and state safety standards. In this course, you will explore the different types of safety hazards that can exist in food products that can lead to human injury or illness. Using a hazard assessment tool, you will consider the full food production process and identify the potential physical, biological, and chemical hazards of a food product and how these potential hazards can best be prevented or controlled. Once you have determined the key quality attributes that should be defined for a food product, you will create an initial indication of the metrics for each. By the end of this course, you will be prepared to integrate both food safety and quality consideration into the decisions surrounding product formulation, processing method, packaging material, and product shelf life. You are required to have completed the following course or have equivalent experience before taking this course: Market Research and Product Development
$1,199

Evaluating a Corporate Sustainability Strategy

Course
3 weeks
Online
In this course, you will critically examine the sustainability-based interactions among corporate entities, their peers, regulators, the public, and other stakeholders in order to identify opportunities for improving the outcomes of these interactions. To do this, you will examine how corporate structure affects business practices and how different industries are affected by the sustainability movement. You will then identify how these factors influence a company's motivation to act more sustainably. You will also consider the balancing act that today's corporate leaders face as they uphold their corporate fiduciary duties and navigate evolving sustainability demands. Finally, you will assess the impacts of business activities on the environment and pinpoint a company's positive and negative sustainability efforts. By the end of this course, you will be better prepared to assess your company's sustainability practices relative to industry standards.
$1,380

Sustainability Risk Management

Course
3 weeks
Online
In this course, you will identify sustainability risks associated with particular corporate activities and propose actions to mitigate these risks. To do this, you will review a corporate 10k to evaluate and identify a company's identified risks. You will then examine ways that corporations disclose, report, and manage reputational risk. Finally, based on your previous findings, you will develop several strategic corporate sustainability initiatives focused on a company and its key stakeholders. By the end of this course, you will be better prepared to identify regulatory and reputational sustainability risks and develop strategies to mitigate these risks. You are required to have completed the following course or have equivalent experience before taking this course: Evaluating a Corporate Sustainability Strategy
$1,380

Generating Profit in the Era of Sustainability

Course
3 weeks
Online
In this course, you will explore how values-informed purchasing and investment decisions, along with generational shifts in investment and consumption patterns, create opportunities for companies that adapt to trends in sustainability. You will also examine ways in which regulatory changes, growing scrutiny, and increased pressure by civil society create growing markets for products and services that have fewer impacts on people and the planet than conventional products and services. Building on this base, you will identify how investment decisions can influence societal outcomes and how private, return-seeking capital can improve social and environmental outcomes by fostering more sustainable business activities. By the end of the course, you will be prepared to propose sound sustainability initiatives or new sustainable business ventures that you believe represent real opportunities for a company like yours to increase its profitability. You are required to have completed the following courses or have equivalent experience before taking this course: Evaluating a Corporate Sustainability Strategy Sustainability Risk Management
$1,380

Purchasing Considerations

Course
2 weeks
Online
In this course, you will determine the factors of importance in making purchasing decisions in line with your organization's objectives. You will explore purchase specifications and align them with requests for quotations (RFQs) and purchase orders. You will then examine how purchasing supports your organizational goals, such as choosing higher-quality versus lower-price goods, in conjunction with your organization's strategies and tactics. Finally, you will explore the factors that influence whether you should make a good (or provide a service) in house, or purchase that good or service from an outside vendor.
$999

Inventory Management

Course
2 weeks
Online
In this course, you will investigate the different factors that impact inventory management at your organization. You will explore a variety of inventory management tools and techniques to minimize costs and meet service levels that accord with your organization's mission, vision, and goals. You will then analyze historical demand for a good or service, considering whether they exhibit dependent or independent demand. Using that analysis, you will forecast independent and dependent demand for inventory items; this will allow you to calculate the inventory level that minimizes overall inventory costs for your organization while establishing reorder points that meet your proscribed service levels. By the end of the course, you will have created an MS Excel forecasting model and an EOQ model that will allow you to efficiently optimize your inventory.
$999

Purchasing Strategy

Course
2 weeks
Online
In any scenario, planning ahead saves time and headaches later. This principle remains true in the procurement process. In this course, you will identify the purchasing strategy appropriate for any given purchasing scenario. First, you will explore reactive and proactive buying strategies, and you will determine how sales forecast data can be transformed into a bill of materials that outlines exactly what you need to purchase throughout the year. You will discover that an annual buying plan that incorporates the bill of materials improves the efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of the procurement process. You will conduct an ABC analysis, or demand analysis, to differentiate your inventory; this will guide your strategy choices for different types of inventory items. Finally, you will draft buying strategies for differing levels of inventory that address short- and long-term planning for your organization. By the end of this course, you will have the skills and resources you need to create and refine the purchasing strategy for your organization.
$999

Supplier Selection and Evaluation

Course
2 weeks
Online
In this course, you will develop a supplier selection and evaluation tool. By evaluating your organization's strategies and tactics, you will be able to identify the important procurement factors that you will use in your supplier decisions. You will explore what makes a “good” supplier and determine how much time to commit to sourcing requirements. You will then examine how your organization's goals and objectives interact with sourcing requirements and supplier selection. Finally, you will draft a supplier screening process using key financial ratios that you will then apply to your supplier selection and evaluation tool.
$999

Cost Management

Course
2 weeks
Online
In this course, you will prepare for a supplier negotiation or collaboration by evaluating purchasing decisions for significant expenditures based on various cost models. You will examine various factors that affect costs, such as a supplier's pricing strategy and market conditions. By leveraging various costing strategies that are commonly used in industry, you will draft a price analysis for a complex item. Finally, you will explore collaborative cost management strategies and build your own total cost of ownership model.
$999

Bidding, Negotiation, and Contract Management

Course
2 weeks
Online
In this course, you will develop the most appropriate interaction style and contract type to secure supply requirements for your purchasing scenario. To begin, you will examine two interaction styles — competitive bidding and negotiating — and determine which strategy is most appropriate for a given scenario. You will then explore and plan for a successful negotiation using typical strategies such as identifying both your and your partner's negotiation stances. Once you have successfully applied best practices, strategies, and tactics for a negotiation, you will follow up with securing the contract parameters that meet your organization's procurement goals.
$999

Sustainable Business Foundations

Course
2 weeks
Online
Sustainability has become a hot topic in business and, like it or not, sustainability is here to stay. Over the past 30 years, the issue has migrated from the fringe of companies to the C-suite. So what is “sustainability”? How and when is it relevant to an organization? In this course, you will acquire a new framework for evaluating sustainability efforts. Using this framework, you will examine how sustainability applies to business and the private sector's unique role to play. You will then identify the implications sustainability has for different roles within your organization and answer critical questions to ensure that sustainability is a strategic growth driver for your company. Along the way, you will explore examples of the complexities organizations struggle with as they pursue sustainability goals. The time for sustainable business development is now, and this course will allow you to set a solid foundation for your sustainability goals.
$1,199

Analyzing Sustainability in Organizations

Course
2 weeks
Online
Whether you are a consumer trying to make better purchases or a manager trying to improve your company, it is imperative to investigate beyond the surface of sustainability. In this course, you will examine life cycle thinking and use it to make real improvements in products and services from the perspective of environmental and social sustainability. You will also explore valuable tools to help you refine your life cycle thinking and use it to identify where the biggest impacts lie in your journey to greater sustainability. Your analysis will lead you to identify what sustainability issues your organization is currently taking into account for a specific product or service, and what key issues might be going unnoticed. You will then perform a qualitative analysis of the social and environmental impact of a product or service throughout its life cycle, from the raw materials stage all the way to its disposal. You will also differentiate between the sustainability issues you have detected for your product or service to identify those that your organization will be most effectively able to act on and highlight opportunities to innovate and improve its sustainability.
$1,199

Applying Sustainability Strategy

Course
2 weeks
Online
Complex problems often require complex solutions. In this course, you will explore six cutting-edge problem-solving methods and ways that you can apply them to sustainability issues in business. Systems analysis, design thinking, behavioral economics, positive psychology, crowd-sourcing, and big data can all help create solutions to some of the most critical sustainability problems organizations face today. You will explore each of these problem-solving approaches and practice applying them to a key sustainability problem. You will then strategize on how to combine approaches in order to create more nuanced strategies. With these powerful tactics, today's sustainability problems can become tomorrow's unique market opportunities for your organization.
$1,199

Implementing Sustainability

Course
2 weeks
Online
Once sustainability issues have been identified and potential solutions have been defined, it's time to work on implementation. Implementing business solutions can involve many different moving parts both within and outside the organization. A business sustainability canvas can help you most effectively frame and strategize for the implementation of your sustainability plans. In this course, you will focus on the motivation and goals for your sustainability efforts and identify the metrics you will need in order to track these goals. You will also identify the tactics you and your organization will use to achieve these sustainability goals as well as the capabilities and relationships required to achieve them. Finally, you will analyze the trends needed to enable progress toward your business sustainability goals, including regulatory, stakeholder, and customer trends.
$1,199

Strategic Stakeholder Management

Course
2 weeks
Online
For decades, stakeholder management considered the opportunity to maximize shareholder returns to be the main goal and guiding principle for businesses. In recent years, however, the growing demand to improve global sustainability along with the recent disruption by the COVID-19 pandemic has created a shift for businesses to do better in impacting sustainability efforts. To serve the interests of all stakeholders alongside profits is now more important than ever. Stakeholder management can be done as a logical, repeatable process. In this course, you will investigate the external variable and impacts on your sustainability strategy. By evaluating your organization's key stakeholders, you will determine your current standings. You will then determine how to adjust your stakeholder relations to better achieve your profitability and sustainability. Armed with a stakeholder strategy, you will develop a plan for managing communication with your various stakeholders. As you walk through the steps of analyzing and evaluating, you'll better understand the needs and contributions of stakeholders as well as how incorporating stakeholders into your daily business practices can result in correctly targeted business actions.
$1,199

Fundamentals of Organizational Design

Course
2 weeks
Online
Organizations are so entrenched in our everyday lives that we often don't notice them. Each of us exists within a unique ecosystem of organizations that include where we work, shop, go to school, volunteer, acquire healthcare, and manage our personal and professional lives. Becoming aware of the ways that these organizations are structured and the choices behind these structures are fundamental skills necessary for organizational design. In this course, you'll analyze an organization in terms of how it is structured, what it does, and how it interacts within the larger ecosystem. You'll develop ways of thinking about these categories and the language you'll need to describe them, whether you are focusing on organizations in your immediate neighborhood or global organizations. Description is the first step. You will also develop the analytical skills to explain, from an organizational design perspective, why some organizations function more successfully than others so you can anticipate future changes that may create a need for redesign. Organizational design professionals use different models to assess organizations. In this course, you'll practice using the Congruence Model to assess whether an organization is well designed. By combining all the skills you develop in this course, you will be able to look critically at organizations to identify their key components, understand how they are related, and assess whether the organization would benefit from a redesign.
$1,199

Assessing Organizations in Context

Course
2 weeks
Online
An organization doesn't exist in a vacuum. In most cases, every organization is part of a larger industry, engaged in collaborative and competitive interactions with other organizations. Organizational designers rely on a common nomenclature to describe how organizations fit within their ecosystem. In this course, you'll take a look at the broader contexts — the ecosystems — in which organizations function. You'll articulate and analyze the different dimensions of this bigger picture. You'll also explore the various strategies that organizations tend to rely on for growth as well as the design implications of these strategic choices. The course brings together perspectives from different and complementary disciplines to provide a multifaceted approach which you will use to assess your own organization and where it fits within the larger context. You are required to have completed the following course or have equivalent experience before taking this course: Fundamentals of Organizational Design
$1,199

Analyzing Formal Organizational Structure

Course
2 weeks
Online
Have you ever wondered why any organization you are affiliated with — be it academic, nonprofit, governmental, or business — is set up the way that it is? Chances are that decisions about how to structure your organization were made in the distant past, under conditions that no longer exist, in response to concerns that are no longer relevant. These choices make a difference in terms of how an organization works as well as how it feels to be a customer or an employee. In this course, you will take a look at the elements of formal structure — how an organization is set up in order to achieve its goals. Looking through the organizational design lens, you will begin to evaluate how each structural decision impacts the overall organization. How does the work get done? How do employees communicate — or fail to communicate? You'll dive down to the unit level to assess workplace challenges that may be the result of formal structural choices. Finally, you will have the opportunity to address workplace challenges using an objective, analytical approach and create alternative design proposals to address these challenges. You are required to have completed the following courses or have equivalent experience before taking this course: Fundamentals of Organizational Design Assessing Organizations in Context
$1,199

Designing Organizational Systems

Course
2 weeks
Online
In times of change, organizational designers may respond by proposing modifications to the formal structure of an organization, perhaps by adding new divisions, changing the vertical hierarchy, or adopting alternatives to the traditional structures. While these are all methods of adjusting the formal structure of an organization, sometimes it is not feasible to make changes to the formal structure of an organization. In such cases, an organizational designer may choose to use policies, systems, practices, and culture to overcome the limitations of formal organizational structure. The proper adjustments to these powerful mechanisms can enhance organizational effectiveness and achieve desired outcomes by linking groups and activities. In this course, you will review research-based approaches to redesigning policies, systems, and practices to better manage your business and your workforce. You will consider which policies, systems, and practices to change and which to leave alone based on examples of real-world success and not-so-successful stories from companies around the globe. You'll also gain the skills you need to analyze organizations as social entities and consider ways you can use things like social capital, organizational culture, and informal groups to smooth the work functions. Finally, you will consider ways to combine and align these integration mechanisms — policies, systems, practices, and culture — to solve a specific organizational issue. You'll also look critically at some of the latest fads or trends in organizational design. You are required to have completed the following courses or have equivalent experience before taking this course: Fundamentals of Organizational Design Assessing Organizations in Context Analyzing Formal Organizational Structure
$1,199

Portfolio Management Essentials

Course
2 weeks
Online
In a complex financial system, it can be difficult to determine the foundation of a successful portfolio management strategy. Throughout this course, you will gain tools and knowledge to guide you toward managing money like a professional. You will explore asset classes, sectors, and styles, and investigate how to balance risks and returns to match individual circumstances. You will explore the underlying principles of portfolio management and immediately gain opportunities to apply these theories. Carefully crafted Excel templates are provided for you to evaluate assets and experiment with various allocations. By completing a hands-on course project with these tools, you will build recognition of optimal methods to successfully manage your investment portfolios, setting you up for success in a complex market.
$999

Communicating Quantitative Data

Course
2 weeks
Online
In many cases, data is crucial to business strategy and decision making. For these situations, you will need to adapt your writing for longer, more complex messages that involve quantitative data. In this course, you will gain best practices to help you write effectively about numbers while getting your key message across. By thinking about your audience and your purpose, you will practice effectively planning and executing your communications that involve numbers and data. Beyond numbers, you will also need to think about how to use graphic elements in your writing. As you examine graphics such as tables, charts, and diagrams, you will identify the best times to strategically use each type of visual support. Finally, you will explore a type of report called a reading deck, determining when to use one, how to craft one, and how to use it effectively to communicate your message.
$999

Improving Governance

Course
2 weeks
Online
Organizations are fraught with struggle, often dealing with underperforming employees, disagreements between individuals and departments, unclear chains of responsibility, and general failures to live up to their goals. Fortunately, we all have ready access to a surprising ally to address these challenges: accounting systems. In this course, you will understand the power of accounting to solve a wide range of managerial problems. You will identify the languages of stewardship and governance, examine the principles of moral accounting, refresh your understanding of double-entry bookkeeping, and explore the realities of human nature. Provided deliberation guides will assist you in a step-by-step method to address conflict, redistribute responsibilities, identify problems in governance, and explore causes for unwanted behavior. Finally, you will practice making recommendations for systems to create organizations that are both productive and moral.
$999

Designing Digital and Data-Driven Business Operations

Course
2 weeks
Online
For a modern business to stay competitive, they must digitize business operations then harness the power of that gathered data. In this foundational course, you will explore the required elements of digital operations by analyzing examples from the manufacturing, service, and retail industries. The key question that you will explore is: How can you improve an organization's capability to be data driven in its operations? You will determine how digitization affects operations and apply a process-based approach for designing digital operations for a case study. By the end of the course, you will have discovered proven ways to gather, evaluate, and utilize data to improve a company's operations and overall performance.
$999

Automating Processes With Macros and Excel VBA

Course
2 weeks
Online
In this course, you will explore Excel automation techniques using Excel macros and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) code. This practical course equips you with the knowledge to streamline repetitive tasks efficiently, whether you're an Excel novice or you're looking to enhance your existing Excel skills. Without any previous coding experience, you'll be able to write and utilize VBA code to perform tasks in Excel. You will discover how to record and run macros before delving into some of the limitations of recording macros. You'll then begin to enhance Excel functionality with VBA, manipulate ranges, and engage in hands-on projects. By the end of this course, you'll be well prepared with the basics of using Excel VBA to automate tasks, save time, and boost productivity. Please note: This course requires Microsoft Excel for Windows. You must have access to a Windows version to successfully complete the course. Microsoft Excel for Mac does not offer the comprehensive VBA functionality necessary to complete the course.
$999

Market Research and Product Development

Course
2 weeks
Online
Many new food product and innovation ideas that make it to the market are ultimately unsuccessful, typically because their creators did not take the proper steps to ensure there was a sustainable market opportunity. In this course, you will assess the feasibility of new food product or innovation ideas. This will enable you to invest your time, money, and other resources in ventures with a possibility for success. You will also incorporate consumer research in order to create a food product or venture protocept. Finally, you will use this research to ensure that your protocept is appropriate to take to the next level of product development.
$1,199

FinTech Disruptions

Course
2 weeks
Online
In this course, you will define what FinTech is (and what it's not). You will explore the key disruptions that have led to the current FinTech industry landscape. You will then apply the lessons of disruption to a challenge facing your organization. Additionally, you will examine some of the key players in the FinTech ecosystem and perform a Porter's Five Forces analysis on a related product or service: one of your own organization's offerings, or that of another firm. Then you will do a competitive market analysis on your own organization, or someone else's, to help you anticipate potential areas for risks and opportunities.
$1,199

Trends in FinTech

Course
2 weeks
Online
Regardless of your field or industry, you have certainly been affected by the technological innovations in the financial services sector: the way we conduct financial transactions, accept payments, manage assets, and interact with financial institutions is rapidly evolving. How will the innovations in financial technology — FinTech — affect your business, and what opportunities are there for you to capitalize on change? In this course you will analyze five major financial vertical markets in the FinTech sector: robo advising, peer-to-peer lending, insurance tech, currency and payment tech, and digital banking. You will then examine how these markets came into existence, explore how they have evolved over time, and study their business models (i.e., how they generate income). Moreover, you will analyze key trends in each vertical and consider the impacts they have on banks, FinTech companies, and consumers. You will use these insights to identify potential opportunities and risks for disruption within your or another's organization. You are required to have completed the following course or have equivalent experience before taking this course: FinTech Disruptions
$1,199

Foundations of Financial Statements

Course
2 weeks
Online
This course provides a foundation in financial accounting and examines the expansion of the field as it relates to the evolution of business' accounting needs. Students will be able to speak intelligently about accounting entities, assets, and claims, along with how they are represented on an income statement and balance sheet. It then examines the application of financial statement ratios and the ways in which data can be utilized for the internal and external evaluation of a company's financial position, performance, and prospects. Students will apply financial statement ratios to analyze how profit is generated and make determinations on a company's liquidity and solvency. Finally, this course will look at non-profit organizations and the implications of restricted funds versus for-profit companies and unrestricted funds.
$1,199

Investments, Capital, and Financial Forecasting

Course
2 weeks
Online
This course will help you interpret financial statement line items that capture the investments an enterprise makes in its future and claims that long-term investors hold on the enterprise. You will explore the differences between tangible and intangible assets along with the ways in which each can be capitalized and their costs can be allocated to the income statement. You will apply concepts to long-lived assets, such as the “Day Zero” assumption, depreciation (tangible assets), amortization (intangible assets), and cost allocation. Taking this a step further, you will delve into accounting methods used for depreciation and amortization and then look at ways to address impairments, fair value, and the three levels of input. Finally, these concepts will be applied to different aspects of capital such as stocks, bonds, and related valuations. You are required to have completed the following courses or have equivalent experience before taking this course: Foundations of Financial Statements Accruals and Cash Flows Sales Accounting
$1,199

Process Analysis in Operations

Course
2 weeks
Online
Processes are the building blocks that define everyday operations in all organizations. Organizations run on processes, so the work of analyzing a department, a team, or even the entire organization starts with an analysis of the underlying processes. In this course, you will analyze processes where the input and processing rates are fixed and have no variability. You will investigate the basic tools of process analysis, starting with the process flow diagram and ending with the performance measures of the process. You will apply course concepts to create a flow diagram of a system or process, using either your organization or a provided case study.  Finally, you will identify and quantify the effects of the bottlenecks in that system or process and propose strategies to manage them.  This course requires the use of Microsoft Excel (desktop or online). While advanced skills aren't necessary, students should be familiar with formatting cells, using simple functions and formulas, and creating basic charts.
$1,199

Finance and Accounting Principles

Course
2 weeks
Online
At the heart of any business is the ability to track, invest, and manage money. Without the ability to do these three things successfully and honestly, a business will not survive, no matter how good their product or service is. A clear understanding of how money flows into and out of an organization allows us to attract investors, identify investment opportunities, decide with what organizations to form relationships or partnerships, and even manage your own personal finances. In this course, you will examine the different roles of accounting and finance and how each influences a business. You will analyze the financial documents used by accounting and finance in all businesses: the income statement and the balance sheet. Understanding the numbers on these documents will allow you to interpret financial information to inform decision making in numerous personal and professional capacities.
$999

Employment Law in Practice

Course
2 weeks
Online
All of us in the workplace are governed by laws, but these laws are rarely taught as part of professional training or covered in any onboarding process. In many cases, we don't know about the laws governing the workplace until something goes wrong. This course provides a foundation for understanding the range, boundaries, and goals of employment law, and offers opportunities for you to apply these concepts to real workplace situations. This course begins with the concept of at-will employment and its exceptions. What are the different categories of workers and which laws apply to each of them? What do you need to know to help steer your organization clear of lawsuits related to employee status and wrongful termination? Because the situations we encounter in life are not always straightforward, this course focuses on cases of complicated — but not uncommon — employment situations. Through your coursework, you will examine the various and sometimes conflicting goals of employment laws at play in your industry and organization, ranging from protecting the weaker party from exploitation to creating win-win rules for the workplace. By the end of this course, you will have gained a more nuanced awareness of these issues that you can apply to the situations that may arise in your workplace. It is recommended to only take this course if you have completed “Hiring Foreign Nationals” and “Immigration Law in Practice” or have equivalent experience.
$1,199

Fashion Trends and Forecasting

Course
2 weeks
Online
What does it mean for something to be "on trend"? In fashion, trends guide everything from design to consumer behavior, evolving and changing over years and even decades. Trend forecasting is how industry experts predict what new trends will become popular with consumers and how existing trends will evolve over time. A knowledge of trend forecasting is necessary for staying relevant in fashion, whether you are working for an established fashion house or starting your own line. This course will guide you through the trend forecasting process so you can create a relevant trend forecast, be it for your own fashion brand, a large industry brand, or a trend forecasting service. You will research current fashion trends using primary and secondary sources to determine what trends will be prominent with consumers. This research will be used to choose a trend for your trend forecast report. You will then gather the data from your research and, using the GRAB method, interpret your findings around a target market of your choice. Once your data is collected and synthesized, you will use your findings to complete your trend forecast report.
$1,199

Creating Effective Contracts

Course
2 weeks
Online
In today's fast-paced business environment, it is important to know the general legal framework governing contract law and the essential elements necessary to create an enforceable contract. In this course, you will gain the tools you need to navigate legal contracts. You will spend time exploring various bodies of law, breaking down the elements necessary for an enforceable contract and recognizing opportunities to avoid the inadvertent creation of enforceable contractual obligations. Though this course does not teach you how to become a lawyer, it will enable you to become a better "client" to lawyers in your legal department or outside counsel. By the end of this course, you will become more skilled at recognizing possible legal issues at an early stage in order to avoid future contractual disputes.
$999

Business Writing Fundamentals

Course
2 weeks
Online
Do you find that your business writing delivers the results you intend? When people read what you've written, do they take the appropriate actions, do they respond definitively with the information you requested, or are they persuaded to agree with your point of view? When your business writing is effective, you're not only relaying messages to others but you're securing the needed results. In this course, you will discover that successful writing requires making thoughtful choices. By applying recommended design principles to your messages, you will improve their readability and clarity. You will then practice organizing your points by using the optimal structure for your message. By the end of this course, you will have developed a toolkit of strategies for writing more effectively in the workplace.
$999

Persuasion

Course
2 weeks
Online
The key to persuasion is knowing your audience, their perspective and needs, and how your solution will benefit them. Through this course, you will understand that the bulk of the persuasion process is spent learning about your audience. Once this is achieved, you use what you've discovered to persuade them toward your way of thinking. While this goes against a natural tendency to think of persuasion as being about you — your cause, your beliefs, your mission — true persuasion requires you to take your needs out of the equation. By focusing on your audience's needs, you will more solidly persuade them and, ultimately, everyone will benefit.
$999

Virtual Communication

Course
2 weeks
Online
For people all over the world, in-person interaction has been the medium through which personal and professional communication has traditionally taken place. The COVID-19 pandemic has altered this norm and made it clear that effective virtual communication is a skill that not only business professionals need to master, but also schoolteachers, medical professionals, students — essentially, anyone hoping to make connections within the virtual space. In this course, you will learn to communicate effectively in a virtual environment and address the complexities inherent in online communication that are largely absent from face-to-face communication. You will learn how to create and adapt to virtual interactions, which includes activities such as setting up your physical space, adjusting your camera, and focusing on intonation and gestures. Finally, you will plan and prepare a high-stakes virtual presentation or communication by putting what you've learned into practice.
$999

Accounting Foundations for Technology Leaders

Course
2 weeks
Online
When supplied with financial information in the workplace, it can be difficult to understand what you're looking at if you aren't familiar with the terminology and purpose of the document. You want to be able to understand the information you've been given and be able to provide both insight and input. Using examples from the technology arena, this course will provide you with the fundamental principles and concepts of accounting that will enable you to comprehend the data in front of you and grasp its implications. You will explore the accounting concepts of cash and accrual and the different forms of profit. Additionally, you will analyze financial statements and projections, and identify strategies to remain in compliance and avoid accounting mistakes. These are common pieces of financial information that most people encounter during their career. At the end of this course, you will be armed with the knowledge to interpret financial information and make informed recommendations.
$999

Humor for Influence: Lessons from Ancient Rome

Course
2 weeks
Online
Effectively using humor to win or gain influence can make you a more effective leader. In this course, you will identify situations and environments where utilizing humor may help you gain influence, and you will identify situations where you should avoid attempting humor. You will develop skills in constructing jokes that suit specific scenarios or audiences and deciding which medium is most effective for the joke. This course also provides strategies to course-correct when a joke doesn't land well so you can safely defuse any incidental tension a joke might cause if the delivery was inappropriate or ineffective. You will review examples and stories translated from ancient Roman philosophy on using humor for influence, and you will be guided to draw parallels between ancient and modern scenarios where humor can be applied. You will be required to purchase a copy of "How to Tell a Joke: An Ancient Guide to the Art of Humor" by course author Mike Fontaine.
$999

Humor in the Workplace: Lessons from Ancient Rome

Course
2 weeks
Online
Humor can be utilized in many different situations and scenarios, but when it comes to professional settings or in the workplace, the rules and strategies for applying humor can vary. Using humor effectively requires a developed sense of both confidence and empathy to relate to others, enabling an individual to successfully manage and navigate everyday work relations and social dynamics. With these two pillars of confidence and empathy guiding your use of humor, you can empower both yourself and the people with whom you work. In this course, you will analyze humor as applied specifically to the workplace, focusing on the social dynamics of your work peers, superiors, and subordinates. By utilizing these multiple lenses, you will strengthen your empathy and understanding of varying perspectives, gaining insight into how or why humor can help or hinder the attitudes of a team.
$999

Leveraging Problem-Solver Profiles

Course
2 weeks
Online
Without a doubt, you've already made major life decisions. Some may have turned out well, while others may have left you feeling disappointment, frustration, or other negative emotions. Chances are that complex decision-making is not over for you yet; your personal and professional lives will likely continue to be full of complex decisions. This course will help you gain more confidence in yourself as a problem-solver as you build your decision-making skills. We'll start by focusing on you: What kind of a decision-maker are you? And what kind do you want to be? You'll explore your decision-making archetype, what that means for how you tend to approach complex problem-solving, and what inherent pitfalls may lie within your default approach. You'll spend time in this course examining your own cognitive biases – don't worry; we all have them, and they actually serve some very important purposes to help us navigate through our busy lives. Being aware of these biases is the first step towards changing them, and in this course you'll discover how to apply some remedies when you notice those biases surfacing. Finally, because no decision is made in isolation, you'll have the opportunity to consider yourself as a decision-maker within the context of the people around you. You'll gain strategies that you can use to strengthen your ability to work with others. This course will provide you with many examples of decisions, both big and small, that are impacted by Problem-Solver Profiles. It will also give you a framework by which to distinguish between complex and simple problems and decisions, providing you with a better sense of when not to “sweat the small stuff." This course is designed to build your self-awareness and tools for working with others, ultimately resulting in more confidence the next time you are faced with a complex decision.
$999

Financial Planning, Valuation, and Dilution

Course
2 weeks
Online
To evaluate an investment opportunity, savvy investors rely on a company's records of its ownership percentages, equity dilution, and the value of equity issued in each round of financing. These records are kept in a company's capitalization table, or cap table, which is a record of the different rounds of investment. In this course, you will utilize and complete a cap table template to create and record a sample startup's financial records. Then, you will use the cap table to assess and analyze a series of financial outcomes based on a set of differing scenarios. Lastly, you will compute and evaluate approaches to valuation such as discounted cash flow and public market multiples based on estimates of future cash flow. This will position you to negotiate new rounds of financing and analyze the impact of new rounds on existing shareholders. You are required to have completed the following courses or have equivalent experience before taking this course: Startup Viability and Funding Options Pitching Your Business Opportunity Protecting Your Interests
$999

Assessing Startup Viability and Funding Options

Course
2 weeks
Online
Every startup has an element of risk. Whether you are an entrepreneur or a new investor, you need to be able to articulate a business model and evaluate how it would fit with an investor type so you can identify good opportunities for investment. In this course, you will complete a strategy framework that will help you assess the viability of a startup. By assessing and evaluating the total available market and served available market, you will conduct a target market estimate to project your product or service's potential market size. You will also create a milestone chart that helps you identify the human and capital resources necessary to launch a startup. Your compilation and review of this work will help you evaluate the specific type of investment your project needs.
$999

Mastering the Time Value of Money

Course
2 weeks
Online
Master an understanding of the time value of money to assess critical decisions about investments. Project cash flows, calculate payments, and solve lease-or-buy dilemmas.
$999

Assessing Nonprofits using Financial Statements and Ratios

Course
2 weeks
Online
$999

Understanding Financial Statements

Course
2 weeks
Online
Every property's finance function keeps detailed records of the daily transactions involved in the running the organization. Periodically, they create reports that allow management, stakeholders and regulating authorities to have insight into the financial health of the organization. As a manager, you need to understand both the metrics that are reported in income statement, balance sheets, and cash flow statements, and how they relate to each other. You also need to understand how comparing numbers across your company, the industry, and from year to year, can help you assess the overall financial performance of the firm. The in-depth review of sample case studies in this course will provide you with the tools you need to examine your own property's reports. As you make budgeting and investment decisions, your knowledge of how vital financial markers indicate relative health in the organization will help drive initiatives to meet your company's financial goals.
$999

Using Ratio Analysis to Evaluate Financial Performance

Course
2 weeks
Online
Use ratio analysis to analyze financial statements. Understand your organization's financial performance and improve its competitiveness. You are required to have completed the following course or have equivalent experience before taking this course: Understanding Financial Statements
$999

Conducting Market Analysis and Predicting Price

Course
2 weeks
Online
To effectively lead the decision making of an organization, you will need to understand how we can use models of the labor market, the loan market, and currency market to predict changes in prices and quantities. In this course, you will familiarize yourself with an extension of the model to the labor market, loan market, and currency market. You will investigate relevant concepts that can allow you to make predictions about how prices and quantities will change when market conditions fluctuate, exploring some circumstances in which the market equilibrium is not efficient. You will then develop a model of production using a single variable input. From this model, you will determine how to derive the average and marginal costs curves. Finally, you will complete a graded course project in three parts in which you will apply these relevant course concepts to practical concerns in your firm or industry. This course will leave you prepared to analyze a imperfect market and apply those concepts to the decisions made at your organization. You are required to have completed the following courses or have equivalent experience before taking this course: Examining Scarcity and Opportunity Cost Analyzing Price and Equilibrium
$999

Examining Scarcity and Opportunity Cost

Course
2 weeks
Online
Regardless of your specific area of work, as a manager, it will be imperative for you to understand the incentives that people face and how they are likely to respond when constraints change. A solid foundation of microeconomics will give you a competitive advantage. It will help you answer critical management questions such as: Should we expand our capacity? Should we add more staff? How can you figure those things out? In this course, you will begin with a cornerstone of microeconomics: opportunity cost. You will examine its definition as well as applications and explore the hidden cost fallacy, the fixed cost fallacy, and the cost-benefit principle. A good understanding of opportunity cost will help you understand how these principles relate to changes in human behavior and drive decisions. You will examine key concepts of supply and demand and the ways in which they affect business decisions. You will also complete a project in which you apply these concepts to practical questions facing your workplace. You will examine the profit maximizing output rule for producers, define the first law of supply, examine the price elasticity of supply, and define the supply ceteris paribus conditions. You will define the consumer surplus maximizing rule for demanders, the first law of demand, the price elasticity of demand, and the demand ceteris paribus conditions. This course will set the foundation for your microeconomics studies.
$999

Grow Your Business Expertise

Cornell University’s selection of Business & Finance programs, including 15+ certificates, combines financial training with practical business application through expert-led instruction and small cohorts. Participants build analytical decision-making capabilities through real-world exercises, collaborative learning, and personalized guidance from expert industry practitioners.

Explore Program Details
Program TypeEducational GoalCourse FormatOfferedCourse StructureDurationTotal HoursWeekly Commitment
Certificates
Comprehensive expertise in a subject area for professional transformation and workplace impactOnline cohort-based (<35 students) with expert facilitator hosting live sessionsRecurring start datesMost certificates include 4 to 8 individual courses with multiple start and end dates to select from; 360 Certificates offer over 20+ individual courses including core courses and electives2 to 6 months depending on individual course requirements40 to 100 hours3 to 8 hours per week for the duration of the certificate
Courses
In-depth exploration of a topic within a short amount of time, delivering powerful insights and practical skillsOnline cohort-based (<35 students) with expert facilitator hosting live sessionsRecurring start datesOne standalone course with multiple start and end dates to select from2 to 4 weeks depending on individual course requirements10 to 25 hours3 to 8 hours per week for the duration of the certificate
Workshops
Rapid development of specific, actionable skills and strategies to be immediately applied at workLive, online, and Cornell faculty-led with an interactive cohortSpecific dates and timesOne 3-hour short-form live program with specific dates and times; multiple Workshops offered monthly3 hours3 hoursActive participation during the Workshop only
Degrees
Academic credentials requiring formal admissions, prerequisites, and multi-year commitmentOnline cohort-based and on campus in Ithaca, NYSpecific start dates once a year, often in January or AugustA series of 2- to 15-week asynchronous online courses designed by Cornell faculty with weekly live virtual sessions, with between one and three week-long residency sessions on campus in Ithaca, NY15- to 24-month part-time program for working professionalsVary by degree15 to 20 hours per week during each online course; full-time on campus during each week-long residency
On Campus
Executive development developed and taught by Cornell faculty in an interactive in-person format

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