University at Buffalo (UB)
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School of Management
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General Management

Functional Areas

Potential areas of responsibility and breakdown of tasks presented under various functional areas of general management.

Many of the general management projects UB students complete are too diverse to fit into just one concentration. Instead of through single functional areas, general management students are equipped to approach projects from a multi-dimensional perspective.

Examples of these projects include:

  • Writing strategic business plans, which may incorporate financial planning, hiring decisions, processes and planning
  • Evaluating current recruitment practices and conducting trend research to form a comparative analysis
  • Examining social networking strategies and devising a plan appropriate for your type of business
  • Assisting with event planning, which may incorporate budgeting, purchasing, advertising and organizational skills
  • Reviewing overall "green" practices within your organization and presenting recommendations to key leadership
  • Proofreading, editing and updating your organization's website and overall Web strategy

Tip: When posting your internship, consider opening up your requirements to general management students in addition to students in your selected concentration area.

Sample Description

Profile
 Nonprofit organization, founded in 1995, dedicated to building community and to governing the various human service organizations in Western New York.

Intern's Title
 Resource Center Project Intern

Main Project Responsibilities
 Collaborate with the Resource Center on the expansion of an organizational capacity-building project serving 11 nonprofit agencies across Erie County.

Additional Responsibilities

  • Recruit corporate and professional trade association individuals to provide pro bono consultation to nonprofits
  • Maintain an accurate and up-to-date central information database with more than a dozen users
  • Collect and use qualitative and quantitative data for project outcomes reports
  • Contribute to project process design
  • Develop and evaluate project outcomes and propose quality improvement strategies

Desired Skills and Knowledge

  • Education: BS in Business Administration, Junior or Senior level standing
  • Concentration(s) of study: General Management
  • Technical Skills: Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Access)
  • Ability to accurately collect, analyze and summarize data
  • Strongly developed interpersonal skills combined with an outgoing personality
  • Ability to speak clearly and effectively over the telephone
  • Attention to detail and highly organized

Learning Objectives

  • Gain a greater understanding of the nonprofit work sector
  • Develop project management and leadership skills
  • Increased ability to record/manipulate/organize data to help make informed business decisions

Logistics

  • 10-12 hours per week. Flexible scheduling however intern must be present at all Resource Center staff meetings, occurring every Tuesday at noon
  • This is an unpaid internship which must be registered for academic credit