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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The students are capable of:
• 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.

• Midterm exam
• Case study analysis
• Quizzes
• Final exam

German

6

40

5.0

40% of the course is covered through eLearning, which utilizes a combination of online phases (inductive method for independent knowledge acquisition and practicing tasks) and face-to-face phases (deductive method, where support is provided in the learning process and knowledge is imparted through lectures).

1

STGL

1

GWI1

integrated lecture

Compulsory

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