General Insurance and Risk Management

​​Computers and information technology are the foundation of business today. This course provides an understanding of computer terminology, operating systems, and the most popular office software used in business. Students learn to use spreadsheets (e.g. Microsoft Excel), word processing applications (e.g. Microsoft Word), and presentation and graphics programs (e.g. Microsoft PowerPoint). Students also get an introduction to cloud computing and enterprise collaboration tools. The course also provides an overview of digital literacy, Web-based collaboration, and publishing and productivity tools.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

COMM 1100 is designed to give students basic listening, writing and speaking skills that will allow them to prepare written and oral reports for BCIT courses and to proceed to more advanced communication courses.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

This course investigates economic analysis, focusing on fundamentals of markets, supply and demand, consumer and producer behaviour, and monopoly and competition. Optional areas of business application may explore labour markets, government intervention and environmental regulation. Prepares students to identify and evaluate the economic considerations they will undoubtedly encounter in business.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

Marketing 1102 is an introduction to the fundamentals of marketing. In addition to the "four Ps" of marketing—product, price, place, and promotion—students will be introduced to how marketers create customer-driven marketing strategies based on their research and understanding of the marketing environment and customers. Students will plan a strategy for and compete in an online marketing simulation. After the simulation, students will evaluate their performance and deliver a marketing plan for their simulation company, which will be assessed on students' application of marketing terminology and processes and in the professionalism of their work. Additionally, students will complete assignments, quizzes, and exams.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

Reviews basic mathematics applicable to business and industry. Topics include consumer and commercial credit, simple and compound interest, financial instruments and discounting, annuities, mortgages, loans, sinking funds, leases, depreciation methods, capitalized costs, cash flow analysis, NPV and IRR. Emphasis is on maximum use of pre-programmed calculator and practical applications from the field of Financial Management.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

This course provides a foundation of knowledge of risk management and the insurance industry. No prior experience or knowledge of insurance is required as this course covers the general principles that underlie the operation of insurance. Students are introduced to the concept of risk and shown how insurance deals with it. Students will study the basic concepts and language of insurance; the legal context of insurance; and the participants in the industry and their relationships to each other. Although specific types of insurance are not covered, the principles students learn underlie the situations encountered in the industry and every policy and course students will study throughout the program.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

​In an information-based society, every enterprise requires business analytics and decision support systems to enable a competitive advantage. As a result, knowledge workers across all industries increasingly require an understanding of data modelling and advanced data management and analytical techniques. Building off the foundational skills learned in BSYS-1000, this course leverages the Microsoft ecosystem, including Access, Excel and Power Query, Microsoft's data transformation and data preparation engine, to perform complex data management tasks. Advanced formulae, concepts, and data modelling theory will enable students to connect to various types of data to enable the analysis and presentation of data to enable business insight.​
Prerequisite(s):

• 50% in BSYS 1000

​Organizational behaviour and management principles study the factors necessary to build high performing teams and organizations. In this course students develop an understanding of how individual and team behaviours impact the effective operation of organizations. The concepts and frameworks discussed in this course form the building blocks of successful organizational development, leadership, and management. Key areas of learning include organizational culture, individual factors including personality, attitudes, perception, motivation, communication, and team dynamics. The course also includes organizational structure and design, decision making, an introduction to leadership development, and management functions including systems, controlling, planning, power and politics. Learning modalities include individual and group assignments, case studies, and an industry-based research project. Critical thinking is an outcome of the applied learning modalities.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

This course provides further instruction and practice in the principles taught in COMM 1100. It concentrates on more sophisticated forms of written communication: the job application package, indirect correspondence, and reports. The course might also include modules on graphics, questionnaires, telephone techniques, and organizing and running meetings.
Prerequisite(s):

• 50% in COMM 1100

Presents a challenging overview of the workings of an economy. Stresses measurement and determination of national economic activity, the role of monetary and fiscal policy, and the understanding of inflation, unemployment and growth in an international environment. Prepares students to weigh political and economic issues as they relate to their business ventures.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

This course focuses on the context of accounting and the use of accounting information for decision making, planning, and control. It will examine how managers can utilize the tools of economics, forecasting, accounting/finance, and decision theory to aid in these critical decisions. The course will consider how differences and changes in the internal operating conditions and in the external political-economic environment can affect a manager's resource allocation decisions. Topics include incremental analysis, short- and long-run decision-making and financial analysis.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

Includes descriptive statistics, including numerical and graphical presentation of data, measures of central tendency, dispersion and elementary probabilities. Introduction to several discrete and continuous probability distributions . Introduction to inferential statistics through selected topics such as sampling, confidence limits of the mean, hypotheses testing, simple linear regression and the chi-squared test for independence.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

​This course introduces the fundamentals of project management including development approaches and activities and tools used at various stages of a project. The course covers the full project lifecycle and provides an opportunity to apply a range of management methods necessary to deliver value. Projects are unique and uncertain environments. Managing this uncertainty and tailoring the project approach is critical to a successful project. The course is consistent with the Project Management Body of Knowledge and the Standard for Project Management.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

This is a skills-based course providing an overview of the insurance business from a broker's perspective, concentrating on the needs of personal lines clients and small commercial risks. The course begins by introducing the broker as an insurance intermediary, and then follows the progress of a risk from the initial broker-client contact, through the evaluation and application process, to the binding of insurance and issuing of a policy. Major insurance product lines and common policy transactions handled by a broker are also covered.
Prerequisite(s):

• 50% in RMGT 2110

Presents a practical study of Canadian business law, including the legal and administrative systems, torts, contracts, sale of goods and consumer protection, employment, business organizations, and intellectual property. Participation in this course, taught by lawyers, prepares you to recognize and feel comfortable with the legal aspects of doing business.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

This course is designed to convey the nature and function of capital markets, the important features of the securities which trade in these markets and the factors which contribute to the value of securities. A discussion of derivative instruments and mutual funds will be included.
Prerequisite(s):

• 50% in FMGT 1100 or 50% in FMGT 1105 or 50% in FMGT 1152

This course lays the foundation for all types of property insurance, and then discusses the perils, clauses, and limitations in the most common personal lines policies. Coverage begins with the Basic Fire Policy. Then students learn how other policies developed, with unique perils, clauses, and limitations, to suit changing needs.
Prerequisite(s):

• RMGT 2110

This is a detailed study of automobile insurance in Canada. It deals with legislation related to automobile insurance and policies and/or regulations, concentrating mostly on personal coverages. It gives students an overall view of the different provincial approaches to automobile insurance and some of the problems related to it. Students will deal in detail with owners' policies or coverages specific to BC.
Prerequisite(s):

• RMGT 2110

This course focuses on applying the marketing concepts from the introductory marketing course. Marketing strategy will be discussed as an essential requirement for business success. It emphasizes the development of personal selling skills and customer relationships.
Prerequisite(s):

• MKTG 1102

This course introduces risk management in a Canadian insurance environment. Focuses on the first two steps of the risk management decision making process: (1) identifying and analyzing the loss exposures and (2) developing alternative techniques for treating each exposure. Topics include the risk management concept; objectives and techniques; risk management in an organization and its effect on profits; risk identification and analysis; property, income and liability risks – traditional, industrial, consumer, environmental; personnel loss and probability risks; risk management decision-making; and capital budgeting methods.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

This course, building on the foundation of RGMT 3110, addresses the more complex insurance needs of commercial clients through the risk management principles of exposure identification, risk analysis, identifying risk management options, and implementing a risk management plan; followed by the study of various terms, conditions, and clauses in commonly used wordings. Students analyze three categories of commercial clients - manufacturers and distributors, contractors, and builders' risks - using a case study process. The course also addresses the broker's continuing task of monitoring and modifying a risk management plan including monitoring the progress and insurance needs of commercial clients once an initial policy has been placed.
Prerequisite(s):

• RMGT 3110

To understand liability insurance, students must first know something of the law and the Canadian legal system; and the differences between Common Law and the Civil Code of Québec. This is not a law course, but it does introduce students to those legal principles that affect liability insurance. It discusses some of the more common ways corporations and people become liable to others and explains how this liability may be insured or why it cannot be insured.
Prerequisite(s):

• RMGT 2110

Focused knowledge of insurance and professional conduct within the claims domain forms the core of this course. Soft skills and knowledge required to handle claims are blended in the curriculum in order to improve fundamental claims handling techniques. Students will learn how to manage relationships in order to gather critical information in the claims handling process. A step-by-step process delivers the key to policy analysis for coverage evaluations. Students will also learn the fundamentals of investigation, evaluation, negotiation and settlement within the claims process.
Prerequisite(s):

• RMGT 3110

This course provides the student with the selling and communications skills essential to success in a financial profession. The course covers the marketing of financial products and services and, in addition, it will introduce the student to the institutional environment in which many financial professionals operate.
Prerequisite(s):

• RMGT 3535

This course will develop essential skills for an entry level underwriter. Topic coverage begins with an overview of the underwriter's role as an investor of shareholder capital on behalf of the insurer. Students will learn how that role has evolved and how the underwriter accepts or rejects risk for the insurer within the parameters set by the insurer and imposed by the external environment. Students will consider the types of detailed knowledge, the "hard" and "soft" skills, and the temperament an underwriter needs to succeed. Students will see these characteristics applied in the analysis of individual property, liability, and automobile risks.
Prerequisite(s):

• RMGT 3110

This course concentrates on selecting appropriate risk control techniques in the Canadian Risk environment, details how to implement the chosen techniques and options for monitoring the results for effective control and coordination of the organizations’ total risk management effort.
Prerequisite(s):

• RMGT 3710

The final course in the series provides details on the selection, implementation and monitoring of risk financing techniques. Subjects include insurance as a risk financing technique; financing property; risk retention including use of captives; risk cost allocation; finite and integrated risk plans and capital market products for risk financing.
Prerequisite(s):

• RMGT 3710

In this course students will integrate what they have learned in prior courses on the various functional areas of managing a brokerage. Topics include Strategic Leadership, Financial Management, Human Resources, Inside the Brokerage, Sales and Service, Marketing Strategies, Strategic Communication, and Growth, Valuation and Perpetuation.
Prerequisite(s):

• RMGT 3110 and RMGT 3535

The required 40 hour work period is designed to be unpaid - either temporary or permanent, in which students spend time in a job shadow role that is directly related to the core competencies of their chosen insurance field. Positions must clearly allow observation, at a professional level, of the core competencies of the CIP and / or CRM programs, and it is expected that such positions will involve regularly-scheduled attendance hours. The intent of the job shadow course is to provide experiential learning for the purpose of complementing and supplementing the various theories and topics covered throughout the course of studies in both general insurance and risk management. The student will observe application of learned skills, knowledge, and ability in a general insurance or risk management setting. A final work-period report will be submitted by the student and a performance questionnaire will be submitted by the sponsor / employer. Performance during the work period will be graded as satisfactory (S) or unsatisfactory (U), according to BCIT Policy 5004 (Student Regulations Policy).
Prerequisite(s):

• Completion of all required courses in the General Insurance and Risk Management program or by approval of the program head / associate dean.