Take My Liberty BUSI 370 Class

Liberty's catalog describes BUSI 370 as an overview course in the Automotive Dealership Management concentration that lays the foundation for understanding the management principles behind successful dealership operations.

Brunson's seven chapters are read one a week. Together they cover the history and structure of the franchised dealership system, the relationship between dealer and manufacturer, the departments of a modern store, from new and used vehicles to finance and insurance, service, parts and collision repair, and the people, processes and numbers that hold them together.

Short recorded presentations accompany every chapter, three in several weeks.

Discussion Board Forums worth 100 points fall in weeks one and two.

Written Reports 1 to 5, each worth 100, fall in weeks three to seven, and the Financial Report Analysis, worth 100, falls in week six beside the fourth report.

Week eight brings the IFL Essay, worth 100, and a 100-point final exam covering all seven chapters.

With no weekly quizzes, the written work carries almost the whole grade.

The concentration's later courses, such as marketing and sales in the automotive industry, build on the vocabulary and structure introduced here.

BUSI 370 is taken one chapter at a time, since each week's written item applies that week's chapter to dealership practice.

The two forums open the course with the big picture, such as why the franchise system has lasted, how manufacturers and dealers share risk, or how online sales models are challenging traditional stores. Each post takes a position and supports it with Brunson and current industry reporting.

Written reports apply a chapter to a concrete situation. A report on used vehicles might explain how a store sets its inventory turn targets and reconditioning costs; a report on fixed operations might show how service and parts gross profit can cover a dealership's overhead.

The Financial Report Analysis reads a dealership's financial statement, computing measures such as gross profit by department, expense ratios and fixed absorption, and explains what they reveal about the store's health.

The IFL Essay connects Scripture to the dealership business, for example honesty in pricing and disclosure, stewardship of a family-owned store or care for employees and customers, following your section's prompt.

The final exam is yours.

Each written piece lands with time to read it before you post.

A BUSI 370 writer has worked in or with franchised dealerships, as a general manager, a department manager, a dealership accountant or controller, or a consultant to dealer groups, usually with a business degree.

That experience gives the reports their realism: the language of the store, from front-end and back-end gross to floor plan interest and service absorption, used correctly.

Financial analysis is checked by a second reviewer, along with every figure and citation.

Writers follow the auto retail press, so reports reflect current conditions such as inventory levels, interest rates and the growth of electric vehicles.

Your identity is kept by the coordinator and never shared with the writer.

If a dealership term confuses you before the exam, such as how a pack differs from a holdback, a short explanation can be sent.

The IFL essay goes to a writer who can relate Scripture to business practice thoughtfully.

The pace of written reports is the first difficulty. Five reports in five weeks, plus a financial analysis in the same week as one of them, leaves no slack.

Industry vocabulary is the second. Dealerships have their own terms and measures, and reports that misuse them lose credibility quickly.

The financial analysis is the third. Dealer financial statements are organized by department and differ from the statements students meet in accounting courses.

The fourth is application. Reports that summarize the chapter without applying it to a store's decisions earn less.

The fifth is the final week, when the IFL essay and the exam over all seven chapters fall together.

Students outside the industry find it hard to picture daily dealership operations.

Change in the industry, from online retailing to electric vehicles, means older examples quickly date.

Students working full time at a store often find the weekly report the hardest deadline to protect.

Reserved early, the course starts with your first forum post drafted.

Forums arrive before their weeks open; each written report arrives a few days before its week ends.

The Financial Report Analysis arrives early in week six so it does not crowd the fourth report, and the IFL essay arrives early in week eight to leave time for the exam.

Your quote lists two forums, five reports, the financial analysis and the essay. The exam never appears on it.

Students joining mid-course are quoted for what remains.

With nearly every point in writing, students often hand over the whole written side and keep the exam.

Others keep the forums and hand over the reports and analysis.

Reports can come earlier if a busy sales month is ahead.