Syllabus Information

1.1. Introduction

The course "Essences of Management" belongs to the Department of Management and Organization. The course is of an introductory nature, aimed at establishing the fundamentals of management. It is an eminently descriptive and comprehensive course that is intended to give an overview of what a company is, its problems, and its relationship with the environment. Specifically, it deals with basic concepts, instruments and decisions related to the management field.

1.2. Recommendations to take this course

The course is of an introductory nature directed at establishing the fundamentals of management; therefore, there are no prerequisites for taking this course.

Students are strongly recommended to attend the lectures, to carry out the continuous work and to study on a regular basis.

1.3. Context and importance of this course in the degree

“Essences of Management” aims at providing the students with the fundamental knowledge and concepts of the management discipline, which subsequently will be developed in depth in the specific subjects within this area.

1.4. Activities and key dates

The starting date is established by the Universidad de Zaragoza in its official calendar. The specific dates regarding the course's key activities will also be arranged according to the official calendar.

Course presentation: The first session will provide detailed information about some practical questions. We will clarify the evaluation criteria to be applied as well as the teaching methodology used in the theoretical and practical classes. We will briefly introduce the contents treated in the various topics covered by the course syllabus.

Theoretical and practical classes: During the classes professors will expose the theoretical and practical contents of the subject. It is recommended to attend to class for an adequate understanding of the subject.

Delivery of individual exercises: The MultiEval application generates ad-hoc exercises for each student. These exercises will be delivered through the Universidad de Zaragoza e-learning platform (ADD), on the dates that will be published in the ADD, and will also be communicated in the classroom. These deliveries are part of continuous assessment.

2.1. Learning goals

To understand and explain the concept of a company, its scope, functions and importance within organisations.

To describe and integrate the basic concepts pertaining to a company's general administration and management and its functional areas, especially, related to the management of a company, its environmental analysis as well as the management of physical, technical, financial and human resources.

To apply simple models and techniques for solving problems in the areas of production, finance and human resources, identifying relevant variables.

To identify and describe the basic features and scope of the various leadership roles in the business: planning, organization, management and control.

To know and integrate the key elements of decision making.

2.2. Importance of learning goals

The content of this course is an introduction for the student as it offers a vision of the company from a global perspective. It is the foundation for other subjects that explain this material in more depth and apply it to the functional areas. This is the only subject in the degree that offers a general overview of a company. For this reason, it is important to understand the basic ideas and analyses covered in this course.

3.1. Aims of the course

The goal of this course is to introduce and familiarize the students to the basic concepts, instruments and decisions related to management. To do this, the functional activities of a company will be analyzed, stressing the management tools that favor the company’s efficacy and efficiency.

 In this context, the first units are dedicated to clarifying some general concepts about the company; its environment and its scope. In fact, the first unit is devoted to a theoretical review of management thinking. Thus, the student has his/her first contact with the concept of business, and the environment in which it is located.

 Once the student understands the concept of a company as an economic agent, the student is introduced to the functional areas of the organization, specifically, technical, financial and human resources areas. It is intended that the student learn the most important decisions to be taken in each of these areas. Additionally, it is important that the student learn to identify the variables that are most relevant in each case and apply some simple techniques to solve different problems.

 Finally, the student should understand the managerial process as the process in which logistics is a core process that is designed and guided to reach proposed objectives.  In this context, the importance of managing human resources to achieve maximum organizational efficiency is highlighted.

3.2. Competences

After completing the course, the student will be competent in the following skills:

Specific skills:

• Knowing the operations of all the functional areas of any company or organization and having the skills to perform any task within these areas.
•  Understanding and applying professional standards and scientific rigour to solving economic, business and organizational situations.

Transversal skills:

• Problem-solving. 
• Ability to analyse and synthesise.
• Decision-making.
•  Reasoning and autonomous learning.
• Putting theoretical concepts into practice.

4.1. Assessment tasks (description of tasks, marking system and assessment criteria)

In the first sitting, there are two main evaluation systems:

1. Continuous assessment: Students are offered the possibility of a continuous assessment through the following activities during the class period:

- Individual exercises are due at the end of units 2, 3 and 4, to be submitted through the MultiEval application. The maximum total value of these exercises is 3 points (0.5 points for Unit 2 exercise, and 1.25 points for each of the other two).

- Continuous assessment test in the classroom (maximum total score: 7 points). A final continuous assessment test will be held in January, consisting of an exam that will contain theoretical (4 points) and practical (3 points) questions corresponding to the syllabus imparted. Theoretical questions will be formulated through 20 test-type questions, while the practical questions will have the form of various numerical problems. (Experimentally, during this course, and exclusively for the group of students of the subject that is taught in the Faculty of CCSSHH of Teruel, 1.4 points of the 4 that compose the theoretical part will be evaluated through test-type questions carried out along the course with the SOCRATIVE tool. The remaining 2.6 points will be evaluated as in the rest of groups (20 test questions related to the entire syllabus taught).

- In order to pass the subject in continuous assessment (with a minimum total score of 5 points) it is required to obtain a minimum score of 1/3 of the score in each one of the parts (theory and practice) of the continuous assessment exam.

2. Global assessment test: Students who do not choose the continuous assessment system, do not pass the subject through this system or would like to improve their grade, will be able to participate in the global assessment test. The global assessment test will be scheduled in accordance with the official calendar of the faculty. This global test will consist of a multiple-choice test with 20 questions (for a value of 4 points) and numerical problems (for a value of 6 points).

For the first sitting, and in case the student uses the two evaluation systems, the best of the grades obtained will prevail.

In the second sitting, the assessment will consist of a written exam with the same structure as the first sitting global test. 

5.1. Methodological overview

The learning process designed for this course is based on a combination of theoretical lectures, teamwork, problem-solving activities and case studies, as well as the discussion of texts and papers.

5.2. Learning tasks

Theory classes: 30

Practice classes: 30

Problem-based classes / Lab tools (ICT) / Seminars / Tutorials / Student’s individual work: 90

150 hours = 6 ECTS

5.3. Syllabus

SYLLABUS

UNIT 1.-THE COMPANY. CONCEPT AND THEORY

1.1 -.The company as an economic agent
1.2 -.Management theories
1.3 -. Company models. A company’s internal resources
1.4 -. Types of companies

 UNIT 2.-THE COMPANY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
2.1 -. Introduction
2.2 -. Analysis of the general environment
2.3 -. Analysis of the specific environment
2.4 -. Market Study

UNIT 3  PHYSICAL, TECHNICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL RESOURCES. MANAGEMENT,

3.1 -. Introduction
3.2 -. Types of production processes
3.3 -. Revenue and cost structure
3.4 -. Localization and distribution of plants
3.5 -. Planning, scheduling and project control
3.6 -. Supply Management

UNIT 4 -. FINANCIAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

4.1 -. Introduction
4.2 -. Financial markets and the company
4.3 -. Management of investment resources
4.4 -. Management of funding resources

 UNIT 5 -. MANAGEMENT PROCESS
5.1 - The employer. Approaches and concept
5.2 -. The management process
5.3 -. Decision making in the managerial process
5.4 -. Human Resources Management
5.5 -. Practices and policies of Human Resources

5.4. Course planning and calendar

Lectures and practical classes timetable will be announced in the university webpage. Paper delivery dates, assessments and other continuous evaluation activities will be communicated by subject teachers through the appropriate means (personally in the classroom and through the ADD -Digital Ring of the University of Zaragoza). Global test dates for both sittings will appear on the center website.

5.5. Bibliography and recommended resources

[BB: Bibliografía básica / BC: Bibliografía complementaria]