Checking date: 30/05/2018


Course: 2020/2021

Foundations of Business Administration
(12863)
International Foundation Program in Social Sciences and Humanities (Plan: 367 - Estudio: 84)


Coordinating teacher: ANTON DE LAS HERAS, ENRIQUE

Department assigned to the subject:

Type: Compulsory
ECTS Credits: 3.0 ECTS

Course:
Semester:




Objectives
The course Introduction to Business Administration provides students with an overview of the key elements of the field of business administration so she (he) can start to thinking as a business manager. Students will be able to: ¿ Understand the complexity that firms are confronted with and the solutions that they can use to deal with this complexity. ¿ Understand the five key parts of business administration include: the environment, planning, organizing, leading and controlling. ¿ To distinguish different areas of expertise in the field of Business Administration: ¿ Direction, Finances, Investments, Business development, Marketing, etc. ¿ Develop analytical skills to identify the links between the functional areas in management, organization, management practices and the business environment. ¿ To identify the role of companies in national and world Economy and how they adapt to different economic situations.
Description of contents: programme
1. Introduction. The Firm. The nature of the firm. Types of firms. 2. The objectives of the firm. A firm¿s mission statement. The objectives of the firm and value creation. 3. The environment of the firm. The macro-environment. The industry environment. 4. Entrepreneurship and management. The management function. 5. Organization structure. The organisational environment. New structural forms. 6. Managing people. Leadership and motivation. Recruitment and selection methods1. Training and development 7. Operation management. Process design. Production capacity. Project management 8. Financial Management. The Financial Function. Financial decisions. Financial balance. The Financial environment. Financial assets. Financial markets. Financial intermediaries. 9. Investment Management. Types of investments. Components of an investment. Investment appraisal techniques. 10. Financing Management. Internal funding. External funding. Other funding sources or instruments. 11. Marketing Management. Market research. Market segmentation. Product and Price 12. Strategy. Competitive advantage. Business strategies. Specialisation and diversification. Internationalisation 13. Business growth. Mergers and acquisitions. Alliances 14. Summary, review and business case.
Basic Bibliography
  • Diez-Viel, I., Martin de Castro, G., Montoro Sánchez, M.A. . Introduction to Business Administration.. Ed: Thomson. 2012
  • Kinicki, A., and Williams, B. . Management: A Practical Introduction. Fifth Edition. . McGraw-Hill. . 2010
  • Madura, J. . Introduction to Business. . Ed: Thomson. 2007

The course syllabus may change due academic events or other reasons.