Introduction to Business Administration - Introduction to Business Administration, Group D 1

Participation Prerequisites

• The course leverages discussion-based learning in the class session. Class attendance on campus is mandatory.
• The course requires a couple of study hours for each session. If you are not prepared, you cannot follow the discussions.
• We want to address you by name to keep the classroom atmosphere personal. To this end, our Moodle page provides a template for name tents. Please print your name tent (hand-written name tents are difficult to read) and bring it to every session. In addition, we request that you upload your picture to Moodle so that other course participants can approach you with questions and comments.

Course Content

Chapter I: Fundamentals of Business Studies (Ove Jensen)

Session 01: History and Logic of Business Studies

• History of the university
• History of business schools
• History of WHU

Chapter II: Fundamentals of Business Enterprise (Ove Jensen)

Session 02: The Anatomy of Business

• Value chain
• Classification of business models
• Structure of business units

Session 03: The Anatomy of Profit

• Break-even calculation
• Relative significance of profit drivers
• Contribution margin and profit layers

Chapter III: Fundamentals of Strategy (Ove Jensen)

Session 04: History and Logic of Manufacturing and Industrialization

• From craft manufacturing to mass customization
• Quality management and lean manufacturing
• Economies of mass production

Self-Study: Marketing simulation

Session 05: History and Logic of Marketing and Innovation

• From mass distribution to 1:1 marketing
• Economics of marketing: value, costs, price
• Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning

Chapter IV: Fundamentals of Management (Ove Jensen)

Session 06: History and Logic of the Corporation

• Market coordination vs. hierarchical coordination
• Chandler’s theory of scale and scope
• Williamson’s transaction cost theory
• Institutional theory

Session 07/08: History and Logic of Management

• Evolution of blue-collar and white-collar labor
• Taylor’s scientific management
• Mayo’s human relations
• Management fashions
• Critical management studies

Chapter V: Strategy Formulation (Utz Schäffer)

Session 09/10: Strategy Formulation

• Key terms and concepts of strategy formulation
• The role of competitive advantage
• Critical evaluation of notorious strategy tools and frameworks
• Rationality and its limits in strategic management

Chapter VI: Strategy Execution (Utz Schäffer)

Session 11/12/13: Strategy Execution

• Information
• Planning & Control
• Motivation & Incentives
• Organizational Structure
• Organizational Culture
• Leadership

Chapter VII: Fundamentals of Corporate Governance (Utz Schäffer)

Session 14: Corporate Governance

• Should top management be monitored?
• Systems of corporate governance compared
• Co-determination

Intended Learning Outcomes and Competencies

The course provides a holistic picture of business administration that shows the interrelatedness of business functions. It gives students a map of their subsequent studies. The course emphasizes an understanding of business history. Historical awareness helps in understanding the present and predicting avenues into the future. Understanding (dis)continuities is essential in today’s media environment, which too quickly heralds business “revolutions” and inflates trends to proclaim something new. Against this background, the course encourages students to be skeptical about business concepts, strategy tools, and management fashions. Critical thinking is one essential meta-competence that this course seeks to foster.

Instruction Type

Presence

Form of Examination

The course score wholly rests on individual performance. There are no team grades and no peer evaluations. The maximum score is 90 points. The score is composed as follows:

• 45 points (50%): Professor Schäffer’s part of the final written module exam (closed-book),
• 40 points (ca. 45%): Professor Jensen’s part of the final written module exam (closed-book),
• 5 points (ca. 5%): Participation in the simulation game “Managing customers and segments.”

The exam states all instructions, questions, and multiple-choice answers in English. Students in Tracks E and BBP must answer in English. Students in Tracks D1 and D2 may answer the open questions in English or German but must stick to one language throughout the exam.

For WHU students, the course score will feed into the module grade of the study module “Introduction to Business,” together with Professor Felix Reimann’s course “Sourcing: Managing the Firm’s Supply Base.” The two courses are weighted equally. International exchange students can choose either of the two courses or both and will obtain a separate grade for each course.

Literature

There is no required textbook. We have not found a book covering the topics discussed in this course. Instead, the learning material includes presentation slides, recommended readings, video links, and whiteboard notes. These are available on the learning management system myWHUcourses/Moodle.