Fundamentals of Business Administration & Economics I

Bachelor

Business Administration Section:
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The students
• are familiar with the various subfields of business economics.
• understand the structure of a business and typical operational processes and are acquainted with the fundamental constitutive factors of a business.
• recognize the interconnections in terms of the diverse relationships between business economic functions.
• can clearly distinguish between central business economic concepts.
• are familiar with the most important constitutional and functional business decisions.
• understand the basics and tools of strategic management.
• know and understand the interconnections of business economics at various decision-making and action levels.
• are capable of analyzing current market, environmental, and surrounding conditions in the area of small and medium-sized enterprises.
• are aware of the essential principles and discussions of business and economic ethics, especially in the area of corporate governance debate.
• know the process for implementing a business strategy using selected business economic tools.
Economics Section:
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• naming the essential components of a market model and discussing market equilibrium as an interaction of supply and demand.
• identifying the determinants of consumer demand and explaining the reaction to external factors such as changes in income.
• explaining both the potential and limitations of market models based on real markets such as the housing or labor market, and enhancing abstract models with increased reality relevance.
• understanding production decisions in companies and interpreting the influence of market forms on pricing.
• examining and critically evaluating current developments based on models.
• naming the essential components and institutions of an economy and explaining how they function.
• identifying macroeconomic indicators such as Gross Domestic Product or Consumer Price Index and explaining them in content.
• independently researching indicators for economic growth and inflation and presenting current developments.

None

Business Administration Section:
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Part A: Overview and Analysis of Interconnections among Key Business Economics Areas
• Characteristics of business enterprises and the scope of business economics.
• Decision theory in business economics.
• Operational functional areas.
• Basics of management and ethics.

Part B: Fundamentals of Business Economics
• Constitutive business decisions such as legal forms, location decisions, types of business mergers/acquisitions, and choice of business field.
• Functional business decisions: materials management, production management, marketing.
• Fundamentals of business value creation processes and functions (value creation architecture and structure).
• Basics of market-, process-, and strategy-oriented management.

Part C: Strategic Management
• Definition and distinction between strategy vs. business model; Mintzberg's 5 Ps.
• Strategic management process and relevant analyses (vision & mission; environmental analysis, external and internal company analysis, resource analysis, and Porter's value chain, competitor analysis, SWOT, etc.).
• Strategic vs. operational goals.
• Generic strategies by Porter (focus on differentiation, differentiation, cost focus, cost leadership) and by Treacy & Wiersema (product leadership, operational excellence, customer intimacy).

Economics Section:
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Part A: Core Topics
• Economic thinking and marginal analysis.
• Efficient allocation of scarce resources.
• Market model and market equilibrium.
• Macroeconomic variables (GDP, inflation, and unemployment) and their interrelations.

Part B: Selected Economic Issues
• Elasticity and welfare.
• Cost functions and optimal company production.
• Pricing and market structures.
• Short-term economic fluctuations: business cycles.
• Money, the ECB, and inflation.
• Long-term economic growth.
• International relations and trade.

• Breyer, F. (2020). Mikroökonomik: Eine Einführung. Berlin-Heidelberg: Springer Verlag.
• Clement, R., Terlau, W., Kiy, M., & Gehringer, A. (2023). Angewandte Makroökonomie: Makroökonomie, Wirtschaftspolitik und nachhaltige Entwicklung. München: Verlag Franz Vahlen.
• Dillerup, R., & Stoi, R. (2022). Unternehmensführung: Erfolgreich durch modernes Management & Leadership. München: Verlag Franz Vahlen.
• Edling, H. (2023). Volkswirtschaftslehre - Schnell erfasst. Berlin-Heidelberg: Springer Verlag.
• Egger, A., Egger, W., & Schauer, R. (2016). Einführung in die Allgemeine
Betriebswirtschaftslehre. Wien: Linde.
• Forner, A. (2022). Volkswirtschaftslehre: Eine praxisorienterte Einführung. Wiesbaden: Springer Verlag.
• Kolmar, M. (2021). Grundlagen der Mikroökonomik: Ein integrativer Ansatz. Berlin-Heidelberg: Springer Verlag.
• Vahs, D., & Schäfer-Kunz, J. (2021). Einführung in die Betriebswirtschaftslehre.
Stuttgart: Schäffer-Poeschel.

Exam
Homework

German

6

The course is conducted in a blended-learning-format. A combination between online phases (inductive method for the independent acquisition of knowledge and the practice of tasks) and presence phases (deductive method, in which assistance is given in the learning process and knowledge is imparted via frontal lectures) is used.

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