General provisions

The course is offered within, e.g., the Bachelor's Programme in Business and Economics and as freestanding course.

Entry requirements

General entry requirements

Learning outcomes

The course is an introduction to business studies with a particular focus on marketing, organisation and entrepreneurship. Marketing includes all activities for a product to reach a final consumer in a sustainable way. Organisation is about how different activities must be organised through division of labour and coordination.

The basic idea is that the course addresses central problems and issues for both the newly started and the large the company or organisation in the global economy. Questions such as what companies are, why companies arise, develop and remain, how companies interact with customers, suppliers and the rest of society and what choices companies face in their activities are the starting points of the course.

During the course, students will be trained to independently and critically formulate and analyse business problems orally and in writing.

After the course the student should be able to:

• understand and account for basic relations in both small start-ups and large established companies regarding organising and marketing in the global economy
• understand, account for and use basic concepts and models in the organisation of production, distribution and purchasing between companies and within and between industries, regions and countries
• understand, explain and use basic concepts and models in marketing towards consumers and consumer behaviour
• identify and propose sustainable solutions to basic problems of work sharing, coordination and governance at both the organisational and interorganisational levels
• identify and propose sustainable solutions to corporate marketing problems
• identify and propose sustainable solutions with links to entrepreneurship and business models
• gather relevant information and critically evaluate different sources of information
• write elementary scientific reports, orally present their ideas, and constructively examine others' work based on specialist knowledge
• put the expertise into a larger historical, cultural, social, political and economic context
• critically and independently reflect on sustainability in various solutions for enterprise and organisation
• critically and independently reflect on the nature of science and knowledge production.

Content

The course contains several parts that together aim to provide basic knowledge in business administration with special emphasis on marketing and organising in both the start-up and the big company.

The first part is aimed at the students acquiring basic expertise in the subject area. Here we teach basic relations around organising and marketing for a sustainable global economy, basic concepts and models for organising production, distribution and purchasing between companies and within and between industries, regions and countries. Also basic concepts and models in consumer marketing and consumer behaviour as well as entrepreneurship and various business models are discussed.

The second part is about the students' skills with connection to work in group, leadership, project work and critical review but also studies in higher education in general. Studies at universities are not just aimed at the student acquiring relevant subject knowledge, but also to prepare the student for a future professional role. On business student therefore need to develop the necessary skills to contribute, manage and organise both small and large operations.

The third part deals with methodology and addresses problems such as information retrieval and information collection, evaluation of different sources, formal requirements for scientific texts, basic questions about how to analyse problems and issues, and the same around the writing of scientific reports. The purpose is to raise the general level of students information literacy and awareness of methodological issues and, more specifically, developing the ability to write academic texts.

The fourth part is about education promoting broader perspectives. A university is a centre for generating and reflecting on knowledge. This means that the university not only has the task to train the student in specific skills but also to contribute to broader education. During this course we do this partly by addressing the problems of science and the nature of the knowledge production, and partly by setting parts of the knowledge substance into a wider context.

The course deals equally with marketing and organisation.

Instruction

Teaching takes the form of lectures, seminars, discussion groups, group work, supervision and library exercises.

Assessment

The examination consists of two modules:

1. Seminars and assignments, 6 credits
2. Written examination, 9 credits

and a summary grade is given for the entire course, 15 credits.

The examination takes place individually and in groups in module 1. The examination in module 2 is individual. Grading criteria are presented in the study guide that applies to each course opportunity. Examinations that are not submitted on time are not graded, unless special reasons can be substantiated. Any residual information and supplements within module 1 must be submitted at the latest at the time specified in the study guide.

On module 1, one of the grades Pass with distinction (VG), Pass (G) or Fail (U) is given. On module 2, one of the grades Pass (G) or Fail (U) is given. For the final grade G of the entire course, both modules must have the grade G. For the final grade Pass with distinction (VG) on the whole course is also required the grade pass with distinction (VG) on module 1.

Students who have not received a pass grade on module 1 have to repeat this module, which can only be done in future course opportunities. Students who have not received a pass grade on module 2 have the opportunity to retake at future course opportunities.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from 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: Marketing and Organisation I 2FE150, Markets and Organisations 2FE014, 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.