General provisions

The course is offered at half speed and designed as a distance course. Together with the distance course Economy, Accounting and Analysis 2FE032, 15 credits it corresponds to the A-level in Business Studies. The course syllabus was approved by the board of the Department of Business Studies on delegation from the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Entry requirements

General entry requirements

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide an understanding of the central problems and issues concerning companies and enterprise, and prepare the students for advanced studies in business administration. The students will be taught to independently and critically formulate and analyse business administration problems. The course covers two subject areas: marketing and organisation.

Upon completing the course, the student will be able to:

• understand and explain basic connections between business idea, goal and strategy and how it affects the marketing and organisation of the company
• describe and discuss the external factors which influence a company’s business
• understand, explain and use basic concepts and models pertaining to organisation of production distribution and purchases between companies, and within and between industries
• understand, explain and use basic organisational concepts and models
• identify and propose solutions to company's problems in marketing
• identify and propose solutions to basic problems pertaining to the division of labour, coordination and management

An overall goal of the course is furthermore to develop the students' ability to carry out investigations on a scientific basis, including to discover opportunities, identify and formulate problems, and try to answer the research questions using scientific method. The course also aims to develop the student's presentation skills, which refers to the ability to write clear and interesting reports. This also includes to critically review and comment on written work.

Content

This is a basic course in Business Studies which aims to give the students a broad introduction to central issues regarding business and management by introducing marketing and organisation.

Within marketing, the course covers marketing for consumer, service, and industrial markets. Within consumer marketing the course covers consumers, competition and the surrounding environment as well as the companies' strategic and tactical marketing planning.

Within service marketing, the marketing problems which are related to the characteristics of services are discussed, and within industrial marketing, the relationship oriented perspective is contrasted with a transaction oriented perspective.

Within organisation different degrees of organisational structure are discussed. Fundamental issues such as the division and coordination of work are dealt with as well as the management problems which arise when organisations grow. Various types of organisations are described and discussed.

Instruction

The teaching is entirely web-based and is based on independent study. Information about different activities, such as the work required and the dates for the submission of papers and other assignments, is available on the course’s website. The course does not require any physical attendance. The communication between the participants and teachers occurs primarily via the website. This requires that the participants have access to a computer with Internet access and other appropriate equipment. Further, this requires that the participants have adequate knowledge in using computer equipment.

Assessment

Examination takes place continuously through individual and group tests. One grade is given for the course based on an assessment of all the parts of the examination. Grading criteria are presented in the study guide provided at the start of the course. The grades that are used are Pass with distinction (VG), Pass (G) and Fail (U).

Any supplemental work must be completed and handed in by the deadline specified in the study guide. Otherwise the course will receive a grade of U. The entire course (including all assignments) will then have to be redone on upcoming course dates, provided there are available spots. However, there is a possibility to receive the grade Pass (G) without re-registration by doing written test.

Uppsala University does not accept cheating and plagiarism. Suspected incidents of cheating or plagiarism are reported to the Disciplinary Committee of the University, which may issue a formal warning to the student or suspend the student from studies for a certain period.

NOTE: Only completed courses can count toward a degree.

Other directives

The course substitutes/overlaps among others basic courses in Business Administration: Marketing and Organisation A 2FE152, Business and Enterprise 2FE000, 2FE271, 2FE007 Kalkylering och redovisning 2FE279, Business and Markets I 2FE778, Business and Markets II 2FE779, Ekonomisk styrning för vård och omsorg 2FE799, 2FE018, Financial Management in companies and public institutions 2FE017, Business and Enterprise I 2FE015, Business and Enterprise II 2FE016, Marketing and Organisation I 2FE150 and the courses from the Faculty of Technology: Företag,nätverk och teknikutveckling 1TS010, Business Administration 1TG010, Management and Control 2FE820, 2FE824, Marketing Analysis 2FE821 and Market and Organisation, Distance 2FE014, Basic Marketing 1 2FE946, Organisation Studies I: The Individual, the Group and the Organisation 2FE947, Principles of Marketing 2FE913 and Fundamentals of Management 2FE918.