SEU
The Economic Models a Leader Actually Runs On

Economics for Operational Excellence

Economics not as abstract theory but as the practical toolkit you run real operating decisions through: Act, Learn, Adjust.

Explore the certificate
The third of three online courses that, together with a live seminar, form the SEU Professional Certificate in Enterprise Leadership.
Part of something bigger

The SEU Professional Certificate in Enterprise Leadership

Complete all four to earn the Professional Certificate in Enterprise Leadership and create a potential* pathway toward the SEU Enterprise MBA.

*Through Southeastern University's Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) process. Qualification is not guaranteed and is determined through the University's established review process.

Who it is for

Built for people who run the operation

An applied, executive-level course on the economic models a leader runs an operation on, from material balance and cost behavior to feedback loops, supply chains, scale, risk, and capital. Built end to end around one company, so every model lands on a real operating decision.

  • Operators and managers who own capacity, cost, and delivery
  • Aspiring MBA students who want a head start and a way in
  • Leaders scaling a business that has to stay profitable and resilient
What you will learn

Eight modules, one running company

Follow Citrus Grove Provisions through a continuous case study that helps you connect each framework to your own organization.

01

Material Balance and the Physics of Value Creation

Value is recovered, not created from nothing; find the leverage points where it leaks and recapture it.

02

Foundations of Operational Economics

Read your operation as a micro-economy: fixed, variable, and fluid costs, breakeven, and the profit left after the balance.

03

Systems Thinking and Feedback Loops in Operations

Operations behave like systems, not spreadsheets; reinforcing and balancing loops, delays, and the leverage points that move them.

04

Supply Chain Economics

Just-in-time versus buffer stock, the bullwhip effect, and total cost of ownership across a perishable supply chain.

05

Scalability and Economies of Scale in Operations

Per-unit cost has a shape: economies and diseconomies of scale, minimum efficient scale, and the step change of a new line.

06

Scenario Planning and Operational Risk

You cannot predict, but you can prepare: scenario planning, decision trees, stress tests, and the Black Swan the tree did not price.

07

Operational Excellence through the Freedom V

Push economic decisions to the line with a Freedom V: clear boundaries, real spend authority, and consequences that teach.

08

Capital Systems, Risk, and Monetary Policy

Fund the scale-up within the limits of capital: cost of capital, capital structure, and the boundaries of monetary policy.

How it is built

What is included

An experience designed to be worked, not watched.

26 interactive pagesSelf-paced lessons you work, not slides you watch, across eight modules plus a start-here and a capstone.
Eight audio briefingsA short audio companion for each module, so you can review the economics on the move.
9 auto-graded checksEight module knowledge checks plus a final assessment, with instant feedback.
Private reflectionsUngraded reflection prompts in every module, saved to you and never scored.
A submitted capstoneOne economic-model and scaling-decision memo, submitted and reviewed with written feedback.
Certificate of completionA professional credential, with a PLA pathway toward the Enterprise MBA.
Meet the instructors

Practitioners, not just professors

You learn from the people who built these models: company builders, a servant-leadership author, and the scholars who shaped SEU's graduate leadership programs.

Tim Dunn

Tim Dunn

Co-founder and CEO of CrownQuest Operating

Throughout his career, Tim Dunn has built and invested in organizations and the people who lead them. The lessons he learned through decades of hard work and investment, grounded in the principles of servant leadership and self-governance, now form the foundation of everything he does. As a practitioner of these principles, he continues to invest in and equip other leaders to build healthy, self-governing organizations.

Dave Kuhnert

Dave Kuhnert

Author of "Servant Leadership" and Director of The Crossroad

Dave Kuhnert is a servant-leadership practitioner, author, and executive coach who helps leaders build organizations where purpose, culture, and strategy reinforce one another. As the author of Servant Leadership and Building an Organizational Strategy, he equips leaders to create healthy, self-governing organizations that flourish over the long term.

Michael Steiner, Ph.D.

Michael Steiner, Ph.D.

Senior Vice President of Advancement and Innovation, Southeastern University

Senior Vice President of Advancement and Innovation at Southeastern University, where he leads fundraising and advancement and oversees SEU Fire Athletics. He holds a Ph.D. in business psychology and an MBA, and teaches in the Jannetides College of Business, Communication, and Leadership.

Joshua D. Henson, Ph.D.

Joshua D. Henson, Ph.D.

Dean, Jannetides College of Business, Communication, and Leadership

Dean of the Jannetides College of Business, Communication, and Leadership at Southeastern University, where he directs the MBA program and holds the rank of Professor of Leadership. He is a widely published scholar of servant and biblical leadership.

A pathway toward the Enterprise MBA

Begin Economics for Operational Excellence

Start the first course in the SEU Professional Certificate in Enterprise Leadership and build toward the Enterprise MBA through the certificate's prior-learning-assessment pathway.

See the full certificate