Entry requirements

General entry requirements

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide an understanding of the central problems and issues concerning enterprises, companies and other organisations 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.

The course aims to provide an understanding of the central problems and issues concerning industries, branches, companies and organisations, 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:

• independently and critically identify, formulate and analyse business problems,
• understand and explain basic connections between business idea, goal and strategy and how it affects the marketing and organisation of the company,
• understand and discuss how companies and organisations are affected by, and affect, their environment,
• understand, explain and apply basic concepts and models pertaining to marketing, including consumer marketing, service marketing and industrial marketing,
• understand, explain and apply basic organisational concepts and models,
• identify, analyse and propose solutions to company's marketing problems,
• identify, analyse and propose solutions to basic problems of organisations and organising.

An overall goal of the course is furthermore to develop the students' ability to carry out investigations on a scientific basis. This includes to independently discover opportunities, identify and formulate problems, retrieve relevant information and critically evaluate it, 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 elementary scientific 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 branches, companies and other organisations by introducing marketing and organisation theories.

The course initially covers issues on company missions and goals, strategy and market positioning which are areas common to both marketing and organisation theory.

Within marketing, the course covers different types of markets and basic marketing in consumer-, service-, and industrial markets. Within consumer marketing the course covers consumers, competitors 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 aspects of organisations and organising are covered. Fundamental issues such as the division and coordination of work and management, control and leadership are covered. Different types of organisations, their characteristics and relations to the surrounding environment are described and problematised. Issues of decision making, organisational change and organisational culture 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 good computer with Internet access and other appropriate equipment. Further, this requires that the participants have adequate knowledge in using computer equipment.

Assessment

The student will get one single grade, equivalent to 15 credits.

Examination takes place continuously through individual home exams and web based examination and individual and groupwise hand-in exercises, including a PM and opposition. The grade for the entire course is based on the sum of the study results of all parts of the examination. Grading criteria are presented in the study guide or a corresponding document. The following grades will be used, pass with distinction (VG), pass (G) and fail (U). Examinations handed in late will not be assessed except under special circumstances. Any remaining supplemental work must be handed in by the deadline specified on the course home page.

Students who, at the end of the course, have not received a passing grade can do the yearly finalising exam without re-registration.

If there are special circumstances, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated above and allow a student to be assessed according to another method. An example of special circumstance might be that the student has special needs certified by the University's disability coordinator.

Uppsala University does not accept cheating or plagiarism. Suspected incidents of cheating or plagiarism are reported to the Vice-Chancellor, 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: Introduction to Marketing and Organising 2FE158, Introduction to Business and Organising 2FE157, Marketing and Organisation I 2FE150, Marketing and Organisation A 2FE152, Business and Enterprise 2FE007, Business and Markets II 2FE008, Business and Enterprise I 2FE015, Business and Enterprise II 2FE016, Business Enterprise, Networks and Technical Development 2FE021, Business Administration 1TG010, Management and Control 2FE824, Basic Marketing 1 2FE946, Organisation Studies I: The Individual, the Group and the Organisation 2FE947, Principles of Marketing 2FE913, Fundamentals of Management 2FE918.