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 think 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. The professional competences acquired by the students will be: To apply the knowledge acquired to the resolution of real-life problems. To apply the different basic functions of Business Management in planning, organization, management, and control. Ability to analyse and develop case studies about companies.

PART I. INTRODUCTION 1. The current business environment 2. The Firm 2.1 The nature of the firm 2.2 Types of firms PART II. FIRM STRATEGY 3. General strategy 3.1 Strategic Management 3.2 Competitive positioning 4. Organization of the firm 4.1 Organization structure. 4.2 The organisational environment. 4.3 New structural forms. PART III. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 5. Managing people 5.1 Leadership and motivation 5.2 Recruitment and selection methods1 5.3 Training and development PART IV. PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT 6. Operation management 6.1 The operation functions 6.2 Process design 6.3 Production capacity 6.4 Project management PART V. MARKETING DECISIONS 7. Marketing Management 7.1 Marketing function 7.2 Market research 7.3 Consumer segmentation 7.4 Product and Price 7.5 Distribution and marketing communications PART VI. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 8. Financial Management 8.1 The Financial Function 8.2 The Financial environment 8.3 Investment decisions 8.4 Financing decisions.

very week there will be a theory session and a practical session. To facilitate learning the students have access to audio-visual materials and basic texts of reference to complete and deepen the topics explained in class. Students must study the contents of each theory session after the session takes place. Practical sessions will be devoted to discussing and provide solutions to the cases that students will have previously worked at. Activities: Camara de Comercio visit: Case study; Analyse the attractiveness of a specific industry in the Spanish environment based on the information provided during the visit to La Camara de Comercio de Madrid. Conference: How to Build a Great Firm, Step by Step; The student should write an essay to be delivered through Aula Global in accordance with the instructions contained in the task created for this purpose. Value Proposition Canvas Case study: designing Value Propositions that match the Customer's needs and jobs-to-be-done and helps them solve their problems. Business Management Simulation Game: Take real world in human resources area depicting various scenarios to test student skills. Marketing Plan Presentation: The student will select a product/service. Over the weeks he/she will be working on different sections of the marketing plan.