Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Frank Teuteberg

Description

Business I and Business II are two successive courses targeting students who do not have a business background from their earlier studies. These two courses cover the fundamentals of business administration and management. Students get an overview of all major areas that are important to run a business in today's competitive environment.

The first part of the course covers the basics of doing business: Getting people involved, technology, ethical behavior, challenges, and competition in domestic and global markets. Then the options for small and large businesses, advantages and disadvantages of being "small" or "large", and how to create your own business are discussed. It is shown that business objectives are achieved through management, leadership, human resources, and organizations.

The tangible output of a business is essentially the production of goods and services. How production is planned and controlled in contemporary enterprises is explained in the next part, including fundamental concepts of MRP II (Manufacturing Resource Planning). Marketing the goods and services produced is crucial for business success today. Customer-driven marketing as well as pricing, distributing, and promoting the goods and services are discussed in a sequence of lessons.

Accounting, creating and understanding financial statements, and controlling the enterprise based on financial figures are the basis for managing an enterprise. Important concepts of measuring, interpreting, and communicating financial information are introduced. Finally, managing the financial resources of a company and how to use those resources effectively are discussed. This includes raising funds on financial markets, buying and selling securities subject to government regulations, and capital budgeting methods that help to choose among investment alternatives.

Outline

Part I: Business in A Global Environment

1. Business: Blending People, Technology, and Ethical Behavior
2. Economic Challenges Facing Global and Domestic Business
3. Competing in Global Markets
4. Options for Organizing Small and Large Businesses
5. Starting Your Own Business: The Entrepreneurship Alternative
6. Electronic Commerce: The Internet and Online Business

Part II: Management: Empowering People to Achieve Business Objectives

7. Management, Leadership, and the Internal Organization
8. Human Resource Management and Motivation
9. Improving Performance through Empowerment, Teamwork, and Communication
10. Labor-Management Relations

Part III: Producing Goods and Services

11. Production Strategies and Technologies
12. Production and Operations Management
13. Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II)

Part IV: Marketing Management

14. Customer-Driven Marketing
15. Developing and Pricing Goods and Services
16. Distributing Goods and Services
17. Promoting Goods and Services Using Integrated Marketing Communications

Part V: Accounting and Controlling

18. Understanding Accounting and Financial Statements
19. Annual Accounts
20. Management Accounting

Part VI: Managing Financial Resources

21. Capital Budgeting
22. Financial Management and Institutions
23. Financing and Investing through Securities Markets

Literature

Boone, L.E., Kurtz, D.L.: Contemporary Business 11th Edition; South-Western College Publishing 2004, ISBN 0-324-18820-X.

Learning Objectives

After completing these courses successfully, students can expect to:

• possess a thorough understanding of fundamental concepts of business administration and management,
• know what competition in domestic and global markets is about,
• understand the interrelationships between people, technology, ethics, and major stakeholders of a business,
• be able to describe, explain and discuss the major functional areas of a business: marketing, production, sales and distribution of goods and services, human resource management, accounting, and finances,
• have a solid understanding of what the tasks of management in an organization are.

Method of teaching

Business I and II are web-supported textbook courses (type 5) enhanced by additional material. They follow to a large extent the above textbook. This book is augmented by a wealth of web-based studying material. Additional material is provided by the lecturers for viewing or for download. Exercises, cases, etc. have to be prepared and are discussed with the lecturers every week.

Students are required to get a copy of the textbook on time, i.e. before the course starts!

Requirements

No previous knowledge of business required. For some lessons you need Windows Media Player 9.

Credits

6.0 credit points