The main general objectives of the course are: (1) to explore the practice of the Management of Business; (2) to study the logic and the way organizations and companies react to the current challenges; and (3) to research how they develope and sustain the competitive advantages in a constantly changeable environment, influenced by economic, political, social and cultural factors. The instructive objectives of this course are the following: - To explain the concepts, models and techniques associated to the Management and Administation of Business. - To understand and analyse the context in which companies and organizations develope their activities. - To apply relevant measurement systems for the different functional areas of the company, which may contribute to the problem idntification and solving. - To understand the company¿s planning process. At the same time, students will have to develop the following aptitudes: - To know how a company is managed. - To differentiate between enterprise and entrepeneur. - To analyse the company from its functional areas. - To develope a critical thought from the research, analysis and interpretation of the company¿s problems. - To show the ability to communicate written and orally. The professional competences that students will acquire are: - To apply the Management of Business knowledge to solve current practical problems. - To explore the factors that determine the companies¿ success and failure. - To apply the planning tools that improve the individual and colective performance. - To apply the different Management of Business basic functions such as planning, organization, management and control. - Ability to integrate the concepts of Management, Organizational Behaviour, Finance, Operations Management and Marketing in solving specific problems.

This is an introductory course with the aim of providing the student with the basic concepts of business management. It provides an overview of the historical context of modern business and of the major functional areas of management studies such as management, finance, production and marketing. Also, the course includes very important topics like the nature of the company, its environment and the tools for the decission making process. 1. General Concepts 2. The enterprise: types and objectives 3. The function of production 4. The marketing acitvity 5. The financial function 6. The management of the company

The competences of knowledge and the attitudes will be acquired through magisterial sessions, discussion of cases individually and in class and the preparation of other kind of practices. The magisterial lectures are aimed to teach the necessary technical knowledge. The understanding of the subject is reinforced with the exercises and the discussion of real cases. The 6 ECTS credits of the course are distributed as follows: 3 credits are assigned to the lectures, 2 credits concern the individual work, exercise resolution and participation in all the activities of the subject, and 1 credit for the individual work on the resolution of real cases.